To Serve and Protect
by Chrissy Sky
Summary: Sequel to A Mourning Interlude. Something happens that wasn’t supposed to and it changes the course of Yuusuke’s life forever. AU of series events. KoenmaYuusuke, HieiKurama YAOI.
1. Chapter 1

Serve and Protect  
By Terra Tenshi and Chrissy Sky  
**Yuusuke/Koenma Yaoi.**  
Summary: Sequel to A Mourning Interlude. Something happens that wasn't supposed to and it changes the course of Yuusuke's life forever. AU of series events.

Notes: The chapters are now being revamped in preparation for posting new ones, which will begin soon-ish. If anyone was still waiting for updates, thanks for your patience. If you're a new reader, we hope you give it a chance. Thanks.

* * *

Chapter One

They did not have time to celebrate Yuusuke defeating Toguro. The man's body fell forward, landing right on the unsuspecting Yuusuke, who did not move out of the way. The teen gave a grunt as he went down.

Koenma tensed; Yuusuke was definitely pinned down by Toguro's literally dead weight. He was pretty sure that _wasn't _supposed to happen. Toguro could have fallen either way, it was true, but Yuusuke hadn't anticipated him not falling backward.

The current announcer, Juri, began the count while Hiei growled at Yuusuke to get up, but the teen could only squirm tiredly. None of them could help him or their team would immediately forfeit.

"What the hell do you think I'm doing here?!" The teen struggled, trying to push more strength into his arms, but Koenma could see he just had nothing left to give. "I'm too fucking tired!"

"Four," Juri continued. "Five… Six…"

Koenma met Sakyo's smug gaze, golden eyes narrowing. It wasn't usual for a human to make him feel impotent, yet it kept happening. He wanted to rush forward and help Yuusuke but that would have voided the fight anyway. All he and Yuusuke's friends could do was watch helplessly.

Yuusuke continued to squirm tiredly, freeing himself up to his waist just as Juri finished the ten count. "What?! Nooo!"

Sakyo went from smug to smirking. "Well, well. It seems like we have a tie."

Koenma nodded minutely. So this was how things would be.

Very well. He had accepted harder outcomes.

Once, he had accepted the cross.

_No! _Fuck no, this wasn't supposed to be happening. He _won_, damn it!

He'd finally beat Toguro. He'd saved everyone. _It wasn't fucking fair! _What was the point of all their sacrifices, of losing Genkai and Kuwabara, if they still lost?! Had there ever been a point to any of it? If this is all that became of his second chance at life, Yuusuke would have preferred to stay dead.

Just turn back the clock and have the damn car kill him, he thought angrily.

Yuusuke continued to struggle even after the fish girl finished counting, but he froze when he heard a familiar outraged screeching.

"WHAAAT?" Kuwabara, who didn't look like a vengeful and starving zombie, rushed at him angrily. "I faked my death for you and you still lost?! Urameshi!"

The other teen blinked at him quizzically from where he was pinned. "Ku-Kuwabara?"

"Idiot! Loser! Koenma even bet his life on you, dumbass!"

Yuusuke finally heaved himself free, his anger and frustration invigorating him. He knew now what had happened and his friend was going to pay. "You asshole! I thought you were dead!" He'd freaking mourned the bastard. He'd _cried_.

"Er…" Kuwabara hesitated, angry expression bleeding away to fear, before he ran for it.

Yuusuke chased after him. "Come back here so I can kill you!"

"Eeep!"

As he chased Kuwabara around the stage, Yuusuke's anger simmered, and he realized he was smiling. It was likely an insane smile to anyone who looked at it, because he felt a little crazy for being happy right now. He's lost the match—well, tied, which amounted to the same thing. Right?

But _Kuwabara was alive_. The big idiot was running away from him like the gigantic girl he was and Yuusuke was _happy_.

"Would you care to forfeit now and save us all some time?" he heard that jerk in the business suit ask, and stopped just short of catching Kuwabara to see what was going on. Sakyo was speaking to Koenma, who was glaring at the smug bastard. In his teen form, with that serious expression, the junior god looked quite unlike himself.

Kuwabara, noticing that he wasn't being chased, stopped and came back. "What's going on?"

Yuusuke shrugged. "Beats me." He hit Kuwabara in the shoulder, hard, just to get the last of it out of his system.

"_Ow!_"

"Shh. Fox girl's saying something."

"Jerk."

"Uh, uh…" Koto glanced around the suddenly quiet stadium, up toward where the box that supposedly held the officials. They were silent. "As Toguro was dead before he fell, and his body pinned Yuusuke down for the complete ten count, the match is being ruled as a tie. Which means that the bet between Sakyo-san and Koenma-san is voided and they must now continue on for their teams! But will the reportedly spoiled brat of the Reikai really fight?" she wondered aloud.

The spectators jeered, shouting insults at Koenma, and Yuusuke sneered at them. He wondered if they realized they were cheering for a human to win. Sakyo was an asshole of the highest caliber, but he was still just human.

Right? Yuusuke exchanged another doubtful glance with Kuwabara. He knew the same thoughts were running through his friend's mind—their boss was a tiny little paper pusher, and his opponent was a jerk who would likely cheat.

Yuusuke was about to encourage Koenma to cheat too, fly away with the stupid jetpack or use it as a weapon, when the godling surprised him. He handed the jetpack to Kurama without one word of explanation and stepped into the fighting area—the arena was pretty smashed after his fight with Toguro.

He looked very determined. "I don't run from my responsibilities," he said to Sakyo.

No no _no! _Yuusuke ran over and grabbed Koenma's arm. "Hold up! What the hell are you doing? Let me fight!"

He fought, Koenma gave the orders. That was how it worked. He couldn't allow Koenma to do this just because of his immense fuck up, no matter how annoying the junior god was most of the time. Sakyo wasn't some rich man's pampered son – Koenma couldn't possibly be ready for this!

"You can't," Koenma pointed out. "You've already fought this round. Besides, you're exhausted."

Yuusuke was about to protest more when he noticed a subtle change in Koenma's stance and eyes. There was a hard, steely look to those gold-brown eyes he'd never seen before. The god's limbs were straight and ready. An unmistakable battle aura began to rise from his teenage frame.

Hesitantly, Yuusuke let him go and stepped back. "Alright," he said slowly. "I'll bet on you this time. Don't let me down." That everything was depending on Koenma now went without saying.

His boss nodded and moved forward to meet Sakyo in the center of the ruined ring.

Sakyo was smirking. "Well, this is just getting more exciting."

"Only someone like you would think so," the godling shot back.

Yuusuke hadn't heard him sound so pissed before. He shifted back to watch with his friends, noting their concerned expressions too.

"Uh, guys?" Kuwabara spoke up as Juri ran around, drawing a circle in the dirt for an impromptu ring. "Are we sure about this?"

Yuusuke glares and folded his arms. "No, but we don't really have a choice."

"Can he even _fight_?" Hiei demanded.

"I guess we're about to find out," Kurama murmured.

The fish girl completed making a circle and, panting, announced the commencement of the match.

That was all the warning they got. Sakyo suddenly pulled out a small gun, quickly and efficiently emptying the clip in the god's direction.

Yuusuke tried to rush forward, a wild panic rising up his throat. "Koenma!"

Kurama grabbed him by his waist and held on tight before he could get too far. He could have dislodged the redhead, but Kurama was hurt and Yuusuke didn't want to cause more damage. They still had to get the fuck out of here somehow.

The concern was unneeded, however, as the bullets had no effect on Koenma. The godling did not bleed, nor did the bullets seem to hit anything or anyone else. Sakyo tossed his gun aside.

"Hm. Ah well…"

"My turn?" Koenma asked politely, quickly forming a series of complicated symbols with his hands that Yuusuke only half caught. "Heavenly Seal, binding!"

Sakyo smirked as absolutely nothing happened. "It seems there are few things one can't buy with money," he said as he lifted the sleeve on one of his arms, showing a seal tattooed into his skin.

Yuusuke couldn't read it, but he guessed that it couldn't be good. Whatever it was, it had blocked Koenma's binding thing.

"And not only can it protect, it can attack as well." Muttering something, Sakyo shot a magical attack—not at Koenma, but at Yuusuke and the others.

Yuusuke cursed and got ready to dodge, but it proved unnecessary. Koenma's hands were moving quickly through another set of seals.

"Golden Halo, shield!"

Golden reiki wrapped around Yuusuke and his friends, protecting them from the weird energy attack in Sakyo's tattoo. It felt warm; not stifling, but more like a blanket on a cold night.

Koenma turned and Yuusuke locked eyes with him, seeing the concern and then relief the godling felt. But he _took his eyes off his damn opponent!_

"Koenma, watch out!" Yuusuke warned as Sakyo snuck up on the god, his arm ready to swing a punch.

Barely flinching, Koenma used his forearm to push Sakyo's arm wide and driving his other hand hard into the millionaire's solar plexus.

Yuusuke gaped. That was some sound hand to hand there. A little basic and formal, but it'd get him through a street brawl.

Sakyo coughed, staggering before he continued shooting those freaky energy tattoo attacks. This time, it was at the girls in the stands. Yuusuke watched Koenma form protective shields around them as well.

"The more he tries to protect us, the further his concentration will be stretched," Kurama said. "They can't do this forever."

Koenma, after taking a few hits that he shook off easily with the glowy shields, tried another binding spell. Unfortunately, it once again bounced of Sakyo's crazy protection.

Hiei snorted as the blows continued. "Tch. Why doesn't Koenma simply kill him? He's obviously got the skills."

Yuusuke raised an eyebrow. From Hiei, that grumpy tone was almost a compliment. "Yeah, but… maybe he doesn't want to?" He just couldn't see Koenma as the killing type. He worked with the dead every day – if there was anybody who valued life, it'd be the godling.

Still, this couldn't go on.

"Koenma, stop worrying about us and just finish him!" he yelled. "Hiei and Kurama can put up a shield and the girls have Puu!"

"It doesn't matter," Kurama countered. "Whatever that thing is it's unlike anything I've seen before. I doubt we'd be able to stop it. Not the way we are now."

Weakened. Exhausted. Yuusuke clenched his fists tightly, uselessly.

"Not in our current conditions," Hiei backed the fox up. "And the old lady isn't possessing your rodent right now, so the girls have no protection either."

Yuusuke cursed with feeling.

He heard Sakyo chuckle. "Urameshi seems oddly concerned about you. Is he your kept boy?"

The teen felt his cheeks flaming at the insinuation. What the ever loving fuck was the asshole talking about?!

The attempt to rile Koenma up seemed to fall short. "Perhaps we have a similar relationship as you and Shizuru."

"Shizuru? Oh, the pretty young lady. Yes, I'm certain to have a good time with her after I defeat you."

_Ew. _Yuusuke listened as Kuwabara, who also overheard, started yelling at the fucker, feeling vaguely dirty himself.

Still, it was weird. As freaky as the dude was, Yuusuke had the weirdest feeling that Sakyo was lying. That he wouldn't really hurt Shizuru.

"_If_you defeat me," Koenma muttered. He'd been using a lot of energy up to this point, but he wasn't even breaking a sweat. Yuusuke was pretty impressed.

"So confident?" the millionaire wondered.

"Yes."

"How interesting."

"Koenma…" Yuusuke was still ready to run into the fight if he felt he needed to, though he hardly had the strength to stand. If Koenma was hurt or worse, it'd be his fault for not winning his match in the first place.

He didn't want anymore losses on his conscious.

Hiei must've sensed it. "Stay back, idiot. It's hard enough to hold multiple shields; if you go running off you're just opening yourself to attack. Him too."

The teen sighed, knowing the cranky little fire demon was right. "Yeah… But this can just keep going unless he finishes it."

"I wonder why he doesn't want to kill him?" Kurama wondered aloud.

Yuusuke frowned. He had to try again, even if Koenma just continued ignoring him. "Koenma! I don't know what your reasons are, and you can explain them to me in detail later with pictures and sock puppets, but if you keep going like this he'll find an opening and hurt the girls! There's no other choice!"

"He's right you know," he heard Sakyo taunt Koenma.

"Don't listen to that freak!" the teen went on. "Just listen to me! Remember, I bet on _you_this time!"

Koenma watched Sakyo blankly, seemingly ignoring Yuusuke's perfectly good advice.

"I believe in you!" Yuusuke shouted, studiously ignoring the weird look that earned him from Kuwabara. If he was delegated to a cheerleader, then fine, as long as it got Koenma to win.

"It's so sad that you'll have to disappoint him when he seems so earnest." Sakyo reached into his jacket. "I think it's time we finished this little dance, once and for all," he admitted, pulling out a small detonator switch.

"Cheater! I knew he'd try something!" Yuusuke made another try for the arena, but Kurama continued to hold onto him.

Sakyo caressed the switch with his thumb mockingly. "Are you going to do something to stop me?"

"I won't let you do this," Koenma said, his voice hard and stony. "No matter the cost."

"Then I guess you'll have to—" Sakyo was abruptly cut off.

Yuusuke stopped struggling because Koenma was suddenly right in front of Sakyo, and his hand was in Sakyo's chest. There was blood everywhere and all Yuusuke could do was gape uncomprehendingly. He'd never, ever thought that his little boss could be capable of such utter brutality.

"Oh ew," Kuwabara complained softly.

"And so ends the reign of a madman." Koenma pulled his hand free, which glowed a little around the bits of dripping organ that came free in his fingers.

Strangely, Sakyo managed a twisted smile as he fell. His lighter fell out of his pocket and something shiny fell out of his pocket. Yuusuke stooped to pick it up and saw that it was an engraved lighter.

When he looked up again, he saw that Koenma was once again spotless. The only blood left was on Sakyo and the ground. He also noticed that the crowd was eerily silent, even more so than in the aftermath of his fight with Toguro. He almost wanted to drop a pin on the ground to see if the old adage was true.

"I think you'd better call the match," Yuusuke told Juri to nudge the fish girl along.

"Uh, right!" Juri began to count, though there were no signs of life remaining in the human on the ground.

Yuusuke laughed softly, relieved, and rushed over to Koenma's side. "Hey, you did it! Sorry for the nagging, but you could've defended my honor a little better... What the hell was that kept boy thing about, huh? Come on..."

But Koenma continued to stare blankly down at Sakyo. "Yuusuke…"

"Yeah?" He gripped Koenma's arm, trying to tug him away from the bloodied corpse. Koenma would budge. "Hey, don't blame yourself. It had to be done, yanno? And you just…" He trailed off as Koenma turned startlingly bleak eyes on him.

It made his heart beat faster.

"Run."

Yuusuke blinked. "What?"

Koenma's voice was soft but firm. "Take the others and anyone you think is worth saving and run. Get as far from this place as you can."

Yuusuke stared at him, not understanding at all, nor why he suddenly felt dread coiling in his stomach.

Since their talk the night before, he felt a strange sort of bond with the godling. If Koenma told him to run, looking that serious, then something was definitely wrong. Nodding, he ran back to the others. "Let's go, guys. Now!"

Looking up into the stands, he saw that Botan also seemed to know something was wrong—she ushered Shizuru, who was carrying Keiko for some reason, and Yukina to the exit quickly.

"What?" Kuwabara asked. "Why?"

"Just trust me!" The feeling that something bad was coming was getting worse. He felt like he was standing at the beach, and a tide was coming in. A fucking huge tsunami wave. Yuusuke grabbed his arm and tugged the taller teen toward the exit. "Jin, Chu! All you guys, get outta here now! Run now!"

He was relieved when he saw his new demon friends following close behind the girls. The rest of the audience looked confused, likely wondering if anyone was going to stop Team Urameshi and their allies, but nobody tried. After a few minutes, however, they seemed to realize that something was very wrong and panic broke out in the stadium.

Yuusuke gritted his teeth as they had to shove and beat their way through the crowd. He worried about the girls, Chu, and the others, but after breaking through a barricade, they were all reunited outside. Even George, the big and blue oni, had followed them out. They found a place to rest away from the stampeding demons and stared at the arena.

Yuusuke sat back in the grass, panting. "Is Keiko awake yet?" His oldest friend seemed to have gone catatonic for some reason.

"Not yet," Shizuru informed him, still holding the younger girl. "What the hell was that all about anyway?"

"Koenma told me to run," the Tantei explained, shrugging. "To get us all out. I could tell it was serious…" His eyes fell on Botan, who was watching the stadium worriedly, her hands clasped together, knuckles gone white. "Oi, Botan. What do you know? You were already running when I yelled at you."

She looked away, fidgeting nervously with one of her shirt sleeves. "It's forbidden for a god to interfere with human affairs. Not without permission, anyway."

Yuusuke tensed at her words, his bad feeling getting worse because Koenma killing Sakyo was definitely interfering . And he could guess that Koenma _definitely _had not gotten permission. "So, what happens to a god when they do?"

"They are… punished."

The teen quickly got back to his feet. "Then we gotta go back for him!"

The sudden explosion of enormous power cut off Botan's reply, knocking Yuusuke off his feet before he could even begin running back. Light enveloped the stadium – which had been deserted by all but one person. It was that knowledge that had Yuusuke scrambling to his feet as the shock wore off.

The air was thick with that stifling power, like the air around a gas station, but he was not afraid for his own sake and he broke into a run, back toward the explosion. He might have shouted Koenma's name, but he could not hear it over the rushing in his ears.

All he could think was _'Not again, not again, I can't lose another one…'_

Because it as his fault. He'd gotten Genkai killed, and now Koenma was going to be punished for saving their lives!

He tripped on something and fell again.

"Don't bother, detective," Hiei advised, pulling back his outstretched foot as Yuusuke glared. "He knew the risks before he stepped into the ring – if you go now you might just interrupt his plan."

"But –!" _You have no idea that he even has a plan!_is what Yuusuke wanted to say, but was interrupted by another of those earth shattering shock waves. Hiei braced himself and somehow stayed on his feet.

Whatever was left of the stadium exploded. The powerful energy left just as quickly as it appeared, taking Koenma's ki signature with it.

Yuusuke slammed his fists into the ground. "GODDAMNIT!"

All his fault, all his fault. If only he had been better or stronger somehow, or just gotten out of the fucking way when Toguro fell—this wouldn't have happened. Yuusuke couldn't stop cursing and remained hunched over until he felt a large, familiar hand land on his shoulder.

"Come on, man." Kuwabara's grip was warm and firm, drawing him to his feet. "You don't know that he's dead."

"Yeah, I guess," the other teen muttered. He looked at Botan helplessly. "Isn't there something we can do?"

Botan shook her head. "No, nothing. Just… wait. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything, Yuusuke." With that, her oar materialized and she was soaring into the air.

Kuwabara tugged Yuusuke away from the ruined stadium as their group headed back to the hotel. They got their things and prepared to go home. Not sure what they would do now, Chu and Jin both promised to check in with Yuusuke at some later point, once the dust had settled.

Yuusuke had never felt so hollow about a victory before, and all he could feel was worry for his little, annoying boss.

"So, guess you guys don't get your wishes," Keiko noted as they were leaving. She looked better now, having gotten over her stupor.

Yuusuke shrugged. The empty pit of loss for Genkai, his furious worry for Koenma-there was nothing those bastards could have given him. Nothing that he really wanted.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

To Serve and Protect  
Chapter Two

* * *

Koenma released Genkai as they arrived just outside the temple in the large courtyard. It was pretty much the same as he had last seen it, while watching Yuusuke and Kuwabara compete to be the heir to Genkai's technique and defeat Rando. He wondered if Yuusuke would ever figure out that Rando had just been a means to an end – Genkai was the person best suited to teach the delinquent Tantei.

There was just no way he could have trained Yuusuke himself. Not after what happened the last time he'd trained someone.

Genkai took a deep breath of the fresh forest air, jarring him from his thoughts. "Home sweet home," she remarked mildly.

"Sorry to cut your vacation short," said Koenma.

"Bah." The old martial artist walked onto the porch that surrounded her home. "I'm just not the type to take it easy for long. Plus, that dimwit won't know his ass from a hole in the ground unless I'm around."

"He's not quite that helpless."

Her face softened almost imperceptibly and she hummed in possible agreement, opening the door to reveal a startled looking Yukina.

It took Koenma a moment to remember what the girl was doing there. She'd come to the Ningenkai to search for her brother – though she'd unknowingly already met him.

Hiei was a young man who made many complicated and often contrary decisions. His biggest issues had to do with his parentage and that he believed Yukina was better off not knowing him. But Koenma knew something that Hiei didn't – his sister wasn't nearly as clueless as she pretended to be. She would figure it out someday.

Yukina gasped, dropping her bowl of bird seed. "Master Genkai!"

Genkai grinned. "Of course! Did you really think I was gone? Koenma, help Yukina sweep up that mess and then I'll show you to your room."

This surprised Koenma. He'd just planned on seeing Genkai home then heading into town to find a place of his own. When his shock wore off, he turned back to Yukina. "Sorry we startled you, Yukina-chan."

The small ice demon flushed and she went to fetch a broom. "Oh, it's alright, Koenma-sama… You'll be staying here?"

Koenma glanced sideways at Genkai. She looked smug. "I suppose so."

The girl blinked at him with wide eyes, sweeping the seed all into one pile. "Koenma-sama, I'm very glad to see you're alright, but… You feel differently."

"That's why he'll be staying here," Genkai spoke before Koenma could. "Tokyo has enough problems without a sixteen year old former god running around."

"Former god?" The ice demon was obviously surprised. "Oh my…" Then her eyes widened again just as it seemed she was calming down. "Oh! We should tell everyone that you're back. They'll be so happy!"

Koenma frowned slightly. "I appreciate your help but information like that can be as dangerous as my presence, you know."

The azure haired girl wavered for a moment before looking firm. "They're your friends too, Koenma-sama. Besides, if Yuusuke-san doesn't hear from you soon he's liable to find a way to the Reikai and charge the palace gates. He's been threatening to. Repeatedly."

His frown deepened, surprised again. Surely Yuusuke didn't care about him enough to do anything that rash. But, if he had learned anything about the boy, it as that he was incredibly unpredictable. Some days, Koenma wasn't sure if that was a good or bad trait.

Since he really didn't feel like rescuing Yuusuke again—the recent confrontation with his father and the other gods had left him feeling impossibly drained—he decided not to stop Yukina from going to call the others.

* * *

Yuusuke was the first to arrive, panting and sweating, having run the entire way from the bus stop. He'd started running as soon as he got the call from Yukina, scaring the crap out of his mom. Then during the bus ride, he was positive that his fidgeting and general delinquent appearance scared other passengers.

Not that he cared or anything, but he didn't like strangers staring. They could mind their own fucking business.

He reached the top of the steps and leaned over, waiting to catch his breath. As he lifted his head, he took a good look around. He spotted Yukina outside, feeding the birds.

She smiled, as sweet and kind as always. "Hello, Yuusuke-san."

Yuusuke forwent a greeting of his own. "Where… are they…?" he gasped out.

In answer to his question, the temple doors opened to reveal the petite form of his master. "Dimwit," was Genkai's welcome.

Gone was the blood and the gaping wound in the old lady's stomach. Though the image stood out clearly in Yuusuke's mind still, whenever he closed his eyes; now Genkai looked the same as when he'd met her nearly a year ago. Yukina had told him so when she called, but Yuusuke couldn't quite believe she was really there, gazing at him just as sourly as always.

As if she hadn't died in his arms. As if her former lover hadn't killed her before her student's eyes. There hadn't even been a funeral. Just his silent vigil by the cave, when he hadn't been able to move or think about the competition the next day because she was just gone. She'd left him to fend for himself, confirming everything in him that fought against caring for people.

It was better not to care about others, because it always hurt.

But there she was. And he still cared. He would always care now. He loved every single one of the idiots-and Genkai was standing right there in front of him. Alive.

"Baa-san?"

Genkai frowned and darted forward, bringing a fist down on his head. "I thought I told you never to call me that." Despite the blow, she didn't sound angry.

It hurt, but it made him feel so happy. She was really there. Yuusuke grinned, and tears were in his eyes. "Baa-san! C'mere, you beautiful old hag!"

Somehow, he managed to tackle her. Either the old lady was having an off day, or Yuusuke was having a good one.

"Yuusuke!" she gasped, squirming. "You knuckle-headed dimwit! Let me go right now before I make you regret it!"

Then, during Yuusuke's touchy-feely moment, the real surprise came outside. Koenma stepped out of the entrance silently. He wore normal human clothes – jeans that hugged his hips and a plain t-shirt.

Yuusuke was surprised by this enough to let Genkai go. "… Koenma?"

It was a mistake. Freed, Genkai kicked him in the ribs and launched him into the air. He screamed as he flew and came crashing through branches in the trees around the temple. The limbs scraped harshly at his skin, hurting just as much as Genkai's kick. He felt his ribs-nothing broken.

But he was used to this kind of treatment. He picked himself up after his rough landing and went limping back, picking twigs and leaves out of his hair. The greased back locks were completely messed up by now, of course. "Ow, ow… Damn old lady…"

Genkai snorted. "You've gotten soft."

Yuusuke glared and was about to retort, except he got distracted by Koenma's appearance once again. He had to get a closer look, circling around him slowly, eyeing him up and down.

Without the cape and formal ware, the lines of Koenma's body were more obvious. He was slenderer than Yuusuke had thought originally. But that was only the tip of the iceberg.

"Your pacifier's gone," said the teen. Without the little blue suck toy getting in the way, Yuusuke could see Koenma's lips. It was highly distracting.

"Oh…" Koenma put his fingers to his lips, as if he forgot the little blue object wasn't there anymore.

"You feel like a human." This was the big difference, though the outward appearance was just as distracting to Yuusuke. Koenma's power was still there, but it was a mere whisper of what it had been at the tournament. It felt muffled, like something was holding it in. Yuusuke felt himself growing angry.

"I suppose, technically, I am human," Koenma admitted at last.

Yuusuke's heart went cold. "Who did it? I'm gonna make them pay."

"Then I'm not going to tell you."

"Koenma!" Yuusuke growled, frustrated. "You're my friend, whether you believe it or not. I don't let anyone mess with my friends, and this is just fucking wrong. Okay, yeah, Botan explained some of it, but it's bullshit. You did the right thing and now you're being punished for it!?"

"If you try to avenge me, you'll just get yourself killed," the former god pointed out reasonably.

"How can you be so complacent about this?!" Because the teen was ready to bust some heads. If only he'd gotten out of the way in time, then Koenma wouldn't have had to pay for his mistake. The guilt was making him angrier.

"I knew it would come to this."

Yuusuke felt his eyebrow start to twitch involuntarily. "You knew ? You—oh that's just—I'm gonna— _Gah!_"

He had to walk off for a moment to keep from hitting somebody—it wasn't anyone's fault. Anyone there, that is. He still wanted to go charging into the Reikai and wreak some unholy vengeance on some totally unfair gods.

But he didn't. He took a few deep breaths to get under control before walking back to Koenma. "Okay. I promise I won't do anything. Now explain."

"Explain what?"

Yuusuke sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair. He frowned when he found twigs, carding his fingers through the locks to dislodge the rest. "Explain what happened to you," he growled.

"The Jade Emperor sealed my powers." Koenma explained reasonably.

"Sealed how?"

Instead of answering verbally, Koenma turned around and lifted the back of his white t-shirt, revealing an elaborate seal on his back. It looked like a pretty intense tattoo-and Yuusuke knew something about tattoos, hanging around on the streets as often as he did.

Leaving his hair alone, Yuusuke leaned in to get a closer look. "Huh…"

He lightly traced one line on Koenma's back, close to the curve of his spine, forgetting to be self-conscious about intimately touching another guy. If the design was supposed to look like something he couldn't recognize it. Any normal person would just think it was a scary tattoo, but the power behind it was substantial. Someone very powerful had to have placed this on Koenma in order to seal his powers away.

Koenma shivered and Yuusuke realized what he was doing. Blushing, he pulled away quickly. "So. Your punishment for interfering in human affairs is to live as a human?"

The former god nodded, setting his shirt to rights again. He was blushing a little too. Yuusuke felt his heart beat faster.

"That's kinda ironic… in a sick way."

"Likely it's supposed to be."

"Man…" Feeling a familiar presence, Yuusuke turned to see Kurama climbing up the steps. He brightened instantly. It was hard not to be happy when he saw the pretty redhead. "Kurama, look! Baa-san and Koenma are okay!"

Kurama smiled. "So I see."

Yuusuke grinned and turned back to Koenma. "Is my hair alright?" he asked, hoping it would get rid of any lingering discomfort between them. Not that it mattered, Yuusuke was going to see that tattoo every time he closed his eyes.

Awkward didn't begin to cover it.

"It's fine."

"Though you should worry about your clothes a bit more." Kurama brushed down the back of Yuusuke's clothes to rid him of more leaves, earning a squeak from the younger man. "Just trying to help, Yuusuke," the fox said with an innocent smile.

"I'm telling Hiei on you," Yuusuke warned childishly.

"Maa." Kurama was clearly amused. "He'll just stare at you and ask what the hell it's got to do with him."

Yuusuke pouted. "But it'll make me feel better."

Kurama shook his head, smiling. "Really, it won't do any good."

Koenma seemed to be listening curiously to their exchange, so Yuusuke explained. "Kurama's being all noble because he's not sure Hiei's even hit puberty yet, and Hiei's just clueless as all fuck."

Actually, Yuusuke was perfectly aware that Kurama and Hiei's issues went way beyond that. He really hoped they worked it out, but other than occasionally being an ear for Kurama to vent to, he stayed out of it. He didn't know a whole lot about gay relationships, or relationships in general. He was getting the feeling that he wasn't very good at them, if Keiko's moods were anything to go by.

Kurama rolled his eyes fondly. "This interesting tangent aside, we can probably take this inside. Kuwabara-kun can't come because Shizuru-san's making him study and I could not find Hiei. Looks like it's just us for now."

"You don't have to stay," Koenma told him, looking at them worriedly "Yukina only wanted to let you know that Genkai and I were back."

Kurama smiled. "Nonsense. I brought snacks." He held up a box of Genkai's favorite cookies.

Yuusuke rolled his eyes himself as the box disappeared in a flash, Genkai taking it faster than normal eyes could follow. "There you go, bribing her again."

"It's called being polite."

"_And _it's called bribery."

"If you were more polite, she'd stop beating you up," Kurama commented mildly as they walked inside.

"Yeah, yeah," Yuusuke responded, "but then I'd never learn anything."

Genkai snorted. "If he was polite, I'd think he was dying of some incurable disease."

"I think Konzen said the same thing about Goku once," Koenma murmured thoughtfully, and only Yuusuke heard him.

He blinked at him curiously, recognizing the names. "Huh?"

Koenma flushed again and shook his head. Yuusuke continued to watch him as they sat at a table and prodded the former god and Genkai for more information about their return.

Koenma was a little different. Not just his reiki, but in ways Yuusuke couldn't really pinpoint specifically. But aside from that and the clothes, it was the same old Koenma, just in his absurdly attractive adult form. Yuusuke felt a little uncomfortable thinking about the guy being attractive, even though he had started to figure out some things about his sexuality before this. It was just weird that it was Koenma.

A group of Reikai warriors called the SDF had come for Koenma, which explained what happened to the stadium after the evacuation. Koenma had been taken before The Jade Emperor to be sentenced for the breach in protocol. No one, not even Enma Daioh, had spoken on his behalf despite Koenma's reasons being just. The seal on his back made him essentially a human being. He was to live in the Ningenkai and get along on his own.

"So how are you getting along," Kurama asked, "being mostly human?"

"It's not as bad as you might think," Koenma admitted. "Even though it's only been one day."

Yuusuke found he was curious as well. "Is it really different?"

"Of course," Koenma said, rolling the tea cup that Yukina had given him between his elegant hands. "Though it's neither bad nor good so far, it merely is."

"What things are different?" the teen pressed on, then grinned. "Or is it things that are Too Much Info, like passing gas?"

Koenma frowned lightly at him. Yukina appeared to disapprove as well. Genkai smacked his head.

"Ow, hey!" the teen complained.

Kurama laughed softly. "Keep it out of the gutter, Yuusuke."

"What's the fun in that?"

"It makes Koenma uncomfortable."

"Huh?" Yuusuke looked at Koenma curiously.

Koenma was still frowning lightly, only now he was focused on his teacup. There was a light flush on his cheeks.

"Uh… Sorry?" Yuusuke said awkwardly. He wasn't that sorry though. It was an attractive blush.

"It's alright." The blush wasn't going away too quick, though.

"So… what else is different?" Yuusuke asked, grinning. "Leaving out anything TMI of course," he added quickly, so no one could accuse him of being gross. He really did want to know.

"I'm still not used to sleeping," Koenma told him.

"You didn't sleep _before_?"

"Not usually."

"Wow," Yuusuke breathed, amazed. "Did you dream, before?"

"Daydream sometimes I suppose."

"Oh…" This made Yuusuke a little sad. "But dreaming is the best part about sleeping." Except for nightmares. Of course, his own subconscious hadn't been haunted too badly until recently, with fighting Toguro, Genkai's temporary death, and Koenma being abruptly taken from them.

"What about other stuff?" he pressed. "Do you get tired more easily? Do you eat as much? Did it effect your powers?"

"I don't have powers," Koenma murmured quietly.

Yuusuke's jaw dropped. "You what?" But even with the seal, the teen was still able to feel something radiate off the former god. It was small, granted, making Koenma seem much weaker than before. Yuusuke grimaced, just thinking about it making him feel worse. If Koenma was weaker then it was clearly Yuusuke's fault.

"I do not have powers," Koenma reiterated, sipping his tea. "Not in the conventional sense at least."

And that was when Yuusuke made the decision. It sounded a little stupid, even to himself, but damn , what else could he do? Just stand aside and watch Koenma try to live in the human world, when it was all his fucking fault? How could he? All he could think about was that this wasn't Koenma's fault yet he was paying for it. He was the one made human, forced to sleep and eat and have annoying bodily functions and be vulnerable !

If it got out, Koenma was a sitting duck. Yuusuke knew he couldn't allow it. Not only for his own wounded pride, or because he didn't want to feel this guilt again later. He did not want to make the mistake again of not being there when a friend needed him. Koenma had become a friend the moment he'd stepped into the ring with Sakyo and Yuusuke took that seriously.

No, even before then, Koenma had started to become a friend. It wasn't like Yuusuke had a lot of them, so it was hard to recognize. Maybe he had started to feel connected to the little toddler god long before Genkai's death.

Yuusuke was a terrible friend. He had to make this right.

"Then I'll protect you."

Koenma's eyes widened. "I don't need your protection."

Yuusuke pointed a finger at him. "Yes, you do. I'll move in, sleep in a room close to yours, and you're not going to complain about it."

"Just deciding that for yourself, are you?" Genkai growled pointedly.

But the teen was determined. "You gave me your reiki orb and made me promise to use my powers for good, remember?" Yuusuke asked her, eyes bright as he made his point. "To protect the people I care about and never let them go, like Toguro did. That's what I'm doing."

Genkai's eyes narrowed. "Koenma can take care of himself."

"Do you know how many enemies he's bound to have? He got as many boos and jeers from the crowd at the tournament as I did! If word of this gets out, your place is going to be crawling with demons. I mean, more than usual." He smiled sheepishly at Kurama. "No offense, man."

"None taken," Kurama assured, watching with interest.

"And it's not like I probably can't use the training, Baa-san!" Yuusuke went on, trying to appeal to his teacher. "Like you said, I might've gotten a little soft since you were gone." It rankled to admit it, but if it helped convince her then it would be worth it.

"Fine," the old woman said dismissively.

Koenma was staring hard at her. He looked more than a little pissed off. "You, of all people," he said, slowly, "should know that I don't need a babysitter."

Genkai shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. Her twinkling eyes gave her away though. "He made a good argument, that's all."

Yuusuke watched, wondering what was so amusing to her, and why it was pissing Koenma off. "Hey, I'm nobodies babysitter! I'm… your protector. Like a knight or whatever, protecting my bratty prince."

Koenma looked back at him finally, this time in disbelief. Yuusuke shrugged sheepishly.

He just hadn't liked being called a babysitter. It was too girly. Never mind that a lot of guys babysat younger kids, it wasn't something Yuusuke did, even if he kind of liked kids.

Kurama's voice was gentle when he spoke up. "While you're attending to your prince, Mr. Knight in Shining Armor, how do you plan to attend school? It's a long commute back to town."

"I'll just ditch like always," Yuusuke grumbled. He seriously doubted he was going to graduate anyway, with as much as he'd missed during the Tournament and even before. Keiko was a mess catching up what she had missed, and she was one of the top students!

But such were the sacrifices the heroes had to make when the world needed saving. Not that dropping out was much of a sacrifice—he hated school.

"Keiko-chan will not be pleased."

Yuusuke grinned confidently. "Leave Keiko to me."

Kurama sighed, smiling in return. "She's going to smack you for saying things like that."

"She can smack me all she likes, it doesn't matter. I've made up my damn mind and that's that!"

Genkai and Koenma were okay and back home. Yuusuke was going to make sure they stayed that way.

* * *

Koenma hid a smile behind his teacup as he shifted delicately through the energy patterns around him. He found that since his powers were sealed, he was drawn to the warmth of others' ki, not unlike a moth to a flame.

Especially Yuusuke's. With the orb, he shown so brightly now. Koenma basked in it.

But what was also on his mind were Genkai's machinations. Could it be that she had figured out how he felt for Yuusuke and meant to keep the teen around as some sick prank? If so, Koenma was not beyond a little prank of his own. He didn't like having what he could never have shoved under his nose constantly.

Suddenly, Koenma missed the paperwork—at least it would have given him something to occupy his mind with.

As Yuusuke and Kurama continued to banter lightly, the former junior god only listened with half an ear, and concentrated. When he finally found the thread he was looking for, he smiled and tugged.

An apparition appeared above them. It took the form of a petite woman with a disapproving frown on her face.

"Young lady!" said the ghost. "Where in the world have you been?!"

Yukina gasped and the boys gaped. Genkai stared. "Ka… Kaa-san?" she whispered hoarsely.

The ghost caught sight of the cookies. "Sneaking sweets again? If you keep that up you'll be the size of a house and you'll never catch a good man then!"

Genkai actually turned red. "Mom, I'm a little too old to get a man and I work off the calories…"

"Don't mumble. It makes you sound like a country bumpkin."

"I _am _a country bumpkin."

"Not anymore. Your father and I wanted more for you than that and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you ruin your life!"

"It's _my life, _Mom!" Sighing, she stopped arguing with her dead mother and turned a glare on Koenma. "Are you quite done?"

Koenma smiled as angelically as he could muster. "I thought you'd be able to deal with a – What did Hiei call it? – _'a cheap magic trick' _on your own."

Yuusuke began to hysterically as he caught onto the joke and Koenma couldn't help but blushing. He didn't remember the last time he'd made anyone really laugh.

Genkai seemed to have had enough and used a trick of her own to dispel the ghost. Then she smacked her student again. "Enough, blockhead."

"Ow!" the teen cried in complaint. " I didn't summon her. What did you smack me for?"

"It's your fault."

Yuusuke pouted. "What the hell? You're rambling, crazy old lady."

"And since you're going to be staying here, you get to earn your keep. Go scrub the porch."

Yuusuke grumbled but stormed off to obey. Koenma was surprised to see that Yuusuke knew exactly where the cleaning materials were, and he went outside with them.

Koenma frowned lightly. Perhaps he should have paid a little more attention to Yuusuke's training with Genkai. Just what had she made him do for her, anyway?

When Yukina had gone outside to resume feeding her birds and Kurama headed for home, Koenma and Genkai continued to sit at the table. They could speak more freely without the others around. The former god almost asked the old martial artist immediately about Yuusuke's training, but refrained for the time being.

"Is it so bad that he's staying?" Genkai asked in a strangely soft voice.

"It's unnecessary," the former god replied, continuing to toy with his teacup. He didn't want to have to explain himself, much less his feelings. It was all very complicated, more so now that his godhood was sealed.

"Don't think I haven't noticed." Genkai looked at him firmly. "Kurama will soon as well, if he hasn't already."

"You give him more credit than you should." This was unfair of him to say, Koenma knew, but he was irritated that Genkai had not only figured it out, but was being so forthcoming.

She continued as though she hadn't heard. "But Yuusuke won't notice. He's pretty thick. You've been given an opportunity here and if you waste it, he's going to be snatched up by someone else. Take from an old lady that's lived a majority of her life alone—just take a chance, idiot."

"It might be for the best if I did nothing." From the start, he hadn't seen the use in having hope. Yuusuke wasn't the first person he had felt this way for, and the two previous times had not turned out well. Besides, Yuusuke and Keiko were meant to be together. It was Written and that was that. Koenma would not get in the way, even if he could.

Genkai eyed him keenly. "Is it?"

Koenma shrugged. "Yuusuke's the closest thing we have to a Seer." Kuwabara and Shizuru had feelings about things to come, but Yuusuke's dreams were something else altogether. Koenma and Genkai were the only ones who were aware of this latent ability that had awakened during his training. Not even the boy himself knew. "You'd best ask him."

She smirked. "You _want _me to ask if you two would work as a couple?"

"He'll just laugh at you."

"Maybe. Or maybe he'll notice how his feelings for you are changing before he's ready to accept it."

"I don't think anyone can read Yuusuke, least of all me."

"Hm…" They fell into a silence and Koenma stood eventually. "Why don't you go outside?" she suggested. "It's such a nice day…"

His lips twitched. "I'm going to go find a cemetery."

"_That's _cheery."

"Even so. Better to have help and not need it than…" He left it hanging, knowing Genkai could interpret the rest. He left quietly.

TBC.


	3. Chapter 3

To Serve and Protect  
Chapter Three

* * *

Yuusuke had taken off his shirt. His skin was covered lightly with sweat and glistened in the sunlight. He was steadily working on the porch, on hands and knees, but looked up when Koenma emerged. His hair was still tousled from the earlier flight into the trees, and he brushed the fringe out of his eyes. "Hey, what's up?"

Koenma averted his eyes, looking uncomfortable for some reason. "I'm going to look around."

The teen stood quickly, setting his cleaning rag aside and went to him. "Okay."

"Aren't you supposed to be cleaning?" Koenma asked, still not looking at him.

Yuusuke was wondering if he should take it personally. "It's alright, I'm nearly done. She'll make me do it again tomorrow anyway!" he added, laughing softly. Not too long ago, this knowledge would've pissed him off.

He just wasn't the same boy he was back then.

"You don't have to come with me."

"I want to," he pressed, shrugging as if it meant nothing. As if he hadn't argued with Genkai about the whole thing a little while ago.

Koenma sighed, sneaking a glance at Yuusuke, almost shyly. "Alright, get dressed."

Yuusuke pouted. "Aw, c'mon, I'm all sweaty. It's not like I got enough shirts that I can just ruin them. I need to save that for my fights."

"I'm not walking around with a half-naked teenager. Put on the shirt, Yuusuke."

Yuusuke blinked, not understanding. "What're you talking about? I have my pants on…" As often as he _did_ lose his shirt, walking around shirtless didn't seem all that unusual, and it wasn't like he had beer belly or anything. He was fucking _compact_.

But Koenma remained firm. "Put on a shirt or I'm going without you."

"Fine," the boy grumbled and snagged his shirt off the railing, slipping it over his head. He followed after Koenma as the former god headed for the stairs.

Sometime later, they reached the bottom of the stone steps. They didn't talk much on the long way down, or on the way to the bus stop.

Yuusuke checked his watch while they looked at the schedule. On it were the particular locations and times for this bus route. "Any place special you wanna go?"

"I have some things I need to do sooner rather than later."

Yuusuke shrugged a little at the mysterious reply. "Okay. You and Kurama with the vague answers, sheesh."

They waited as the bus drove up the winding countryside road and boarded together. Koenma took a seat beside a window while Yuusuke took the aisle side next to him without complaint. He slung his arm around the back of their seat and blatantly watched him.

Yuusuke knew he should pay more attention to where they were going, but instead he focused on Koenma, noting again those subtle differences. The JR tattoo, like the pacifier, was gone. Koenma's forehead was unmarked, at least as far as Yuusuke could tell. Then there were the other differences that he couldn't describe, though he couldn't be sure if those were merely his imagination. After all, it was only recently he had started seeing Koenma in his adult form. Before then he had always used his toddler form.

A few stops later, they reached Koenma's stop and left the bus together. They walked down the street toward the cemetery once he caught sight of it.

Yuusuke stiffened when he saw the name of the cemetery, and cursed himself for not paying attention to his surroundings. He knew this cemetery, and he didn't particularly want to be reminded of what was there.

Koenma entered the cemetery without pause, and since he didn't feel like explaining why he didn't want to go inside, Yuusuke followed.

Following him inside the fenced cemetery, Yuusuke shivered lightly at the backwash of sensation the former god suddenly emanated. "What the hell, Koenma?"

"Hm?" Koenma hummed absently.

Yuusuke glared. He didn't like being ignored. "What are we doing here?"

"Looking for help."

The teen twitched irritably. "I'm not enough?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"What comes."

Grumbling, Yuusuke watched Koenma wander between the gravestones, his pride a little bruised. It wasn't that he thought Koenma was a weakling, but he took his promise to protect the former god seriously.

Koenma eventually came to a stop in front of an inner wall. "Help might be closer than I thought…"

Yuusuke blinked at him. "Huh?"

"Someone's been taking care of things here." He motioned around the cemetery like that meant anything.

The teen crept back to Koenma's side. "What're you talking about?"

Koenma glanced at him. "A psychic's been here. That's all."

"Oh." Yuusuke realized he wasn't just irritated at Koenma – which he was – but moreover he was just angry to be _there_of all places.

Besides, Koenma didn't need any fucking psychics—he had _him_. (Well, _anymore _psychics. Kuwabara was supposedly psychic. That counted, right?)

"We can go now."

"Good," Yuusuke grumbled and turned around. Unfortunately, that was when Yuusuke caught sight of the grave out of the corner of his eye and couldn't stop himself from looking. His entire body froze up, just reading the damn name.

He hadn't been there since he was a little kid. Long before he'd met Keiko, even.

"What is it?"

Yuusuke ignored him for the moment. He let his feet carry him stiffly to the grave and knelt down in front of it, staring at the stone with its simple inscription. Just a name and two dates.

There as a pause, then he felt Koenma draw closer, and his voice was softer when he spoke next. "I'm sorry. I didn't know he was buried here."

"I never knew him," Yuusuke explained softly in return. "Died when I was a baby." He'd never told anyone that his father was dead. Atsuko had told Keiko when they were kids, but of course Koenma would know this about him. He supposed Botan knew too, but it had never come up.

"Stupid jerk," he continued. "It's his fault Mom turned into such a lush. Some of my teachers would always say that if he'd been alive, I wouldn't be such a delinquent. Jerks wouldn't even lower their voices."

"I didn't know that. Yuusuke…"

The boy pasted on a wide grin, not letting him finish. It made Yuusuke feel weirdly guilty to put that sympathetic expression on Koenma's face. "But if I hadn't been a delinquent, we probably wouldn't have met. None of this would have happened." Not all of the things that had happened since he became a Reikai Tantei were bad.

"I don't think," Koenma spoke softly, "you could ever be anyone other than who you are."

Yuusuke softened, his smile growing more real. He felt his ears growing warm, absurdly. "Think so?"

He nodded. "It suits you."

Yuusuke stood slowly, folding his hands behind his head in a casual gesture. "At least someone thinks so. Keiko wishes I'd stick around more, or at least graduate."

"That just means she's the odd one out, not you," Koenma said simply.

Yuusuke blinked and expected to get angry at the remark, yet it just made him thoughtful. Most of his life he'd been the "odd one" while Keiko had been the one to fit in with everyone. Yet in the past year, he'd surrounded himself with people who were just like him. They were people who understood the part of himself that needed to fight. They were outsiders too.

And Keiko went half catatonic watching him fight to the death with Toguro. It wasn't a bad thing, he thought. Keiko was normal and well-adjusted.

What wasn't normal was that he kept dragging her into stuff like that. His best friend in the world and he still put her in danger.

Well, he was going to just have to make it up to both of them—Keiko and Koenma.

"Ready to go back?"

Yuusuke nodded. He gave his father a cocky sort of salute before turning toward the entrance. "Do you think that's weird? Not wanting to fit in with normal people, I mean."

"Normalcy is relative."

"I hate normal," the teen grumbled, stuffing his hands back into his tight jeans. "I'd rather just be me."

Koenma nodded and smiled a little, which made Yuusuke grin foolishly for reasons he didn't really understand yet. It was just nice to see the former god smile.

Once they were out of the cemetery and back at the bus stop, Yuusuke checked the schedule again. "Looks like the next bus won't be for awhile. Waiting sucks."

"Mm."

"We're kinda close to my house," the teen went on, noting exactly where in his district they were. "You mind if we stop by so I can pick up some stuff?" If he was staying over at Genkai's, he would need a change of clothes. If he went around the temple in smelly clothes, Genkai tended to sneak attack with buckets of water dunked on his head.

This had happened before.

Koenma shook his head. "Not at all."

"Thanks, man." He crossed the street and Koenma followed him as he led the way to the apartment building he (occasionally) stayed at with his mother. The house they'd lived in most of his life had been burned down in a fire caused by an arsonist, shortly after he died. (Did they ever find that guy, anyway?) With the insurance money, they moved into a nice apartment after his resurrection.

"Mom, you home?" he called as he opened the door.

But Atsuko seemed to be gone. There was an empty sleeping bag on the floor that made that clear to her son.

Yuusuke rolled his eyes. "Probably out getting liquored up with trannies again."

Not that he cared what other people did, because he wasn't a bigot or anything, and he knew his mom was trying to be better. But he had seen addiction enough times in his life to know it was tough for most people to kick. Let alone his mother who wasn't used to not indulging herself.

Koenma blinked at his language and the teen grinned. "Not that I've got anything against transsexuals," he clarified out loud. "I'll beat them up the same as anyone else."

The former god sighed, but Yuusuke spotted a little amusement he was trying to hide. Grinning more, Yuusuke led him to his room and began packing some essentials into his trusty duffel bag. He had gotten a lot of use out of it in the last year but it was still in good condition.

Yuusuke could feel Koenma look around his bedroom and didn't mind so much until the former god stopped in front of the bookcase. He didn't have many possessions, but he did occasionally stop in a bookstore with Keiko and pick up a new manga.

When Koenma blushed, Yuusuke suppressed his own, knowing what he had found. "Uh… about the Boy's Love… Don't tell Kuwabara, okay? He'll start using homophobic insults without meaning to."

Koenma nodded, looking back and forth between the books and him, apparently speechless.

His Tantei laughed sheepishly, unable to help blushing now. "It won't bother me, but it'll bother Kurama, and Hiei will go nuts and start killing people. At least, I'd hope he cares that much if Kurama's upset…"

"He does," Koenma told him absently. "He still loves him even if he tries to hide it."

Yuusuke blinked, his curiosity driving away his embarrassment for the moment. "Wait… Hiei's the hardest person to read, ever. How do you know that?"

"Hm?"

"How do you know that Hiei loves Kurama?" Yuusuke pressed, walking closer. Could Koenma know things about their friends that he didn't?

It was just weird. Kurama and Hiei were… It was hard for him to describe. Not like Keiko or Kuwabara, but they were still important. In a different way. Sometimes, he thought he'd like to be a clever as Kurama, or as stubborn as Hiei. They were way older than him, had seen more of the three worlds than he probably ever would, and understood things he didn't. He depended on them and their strength.

Koenma's eyes widened."Just a guess," he mumbled.

"That wasn't a guess," Yuusuke argued. "You sounded _certain_."

"Well. Not entirely but I'm pretty sure…"

Yuusuke sensed Koenma's embarrassment and leaned closer. "C'mon, you can tell me. If it's a secret I won't say anything, promise."

Koenma just shrugged.

"Pretty please?" the boy wheedled. "I'll buy you an ice cream." He wondered if the former god still had his sweet tooth.

"It's nothing," Koenma answered slowly, "really. Just that Hiei hasn't run away yet."

"Mm-hm." Yuusuke didn't really buy this, but chose to accept it for now. He shrugged. "Yeah, that's a good point." He liked a good mystery sometimes, but he also had a feeling that pressing Koenma about this would get him nowhere. The former god was almost as hard to figure out as Hiei though and it left Yuusuke feeling very frustrated.

"Finished?"

"Yup!" Yuusuke snagged his duffle bag off the bed and, with it slung over his shoulder, led the way out.

TBC.

* * *

Endnote: Yuusuke's human father being dead was just kind of convenient for this chapter, and essential to his relationships with many of the older men in his life. We kind of have him look up to Hiei and Kurama in this story, and then later with Raizen, mostly because he never knew his father. Genkai, of course, fills a stable motherly roll that Atsuko isn't really capable of at the time.


	4. Chapter 4

To Serve and Protect  
Chapter Four

* * *

Some people are born frustrating – that was the thought that ran through Kurama's mind as he stood underneath the tree, his foot tapping impatiently. "Are you ever going to let it go?" he asked.

Kurama had felt the familiar youki nearby as soon as he got to Genkai's temple that day. He found Hiei reclined in the tree above, appearing aloof and half asleep. "I have no idea what you're talking about, fox," said the small demon.

"Fine, I'm just going to say it. I'm tired of dancing around you, and this." Kurama sighed, tired. "I'm not sorry I used my life for Koenma's compact rather than _your _life."

The fire demon frowned almost imperceptibly and chose not to answer.

Kurama sighed. "What kind of lover would I be if I put your life on the line?"

Bristling, Hiei cracked one red eye open, as if he were too lazy to glare with both. "You'd be an obedient one, for starters."

"If you wanted a good little housewife then you should never have slept with me in the first place. You like me being independent and passionate."

Hiei imagined Kurama in a human apron complete with pink and frills. He tried not to let loose an inappropriate smirk. "How the fuck did you think I would've felt after you were dead?"

"The same way I would have felt if you died," Kurama replied stubbornly.

Hiei squirmed a little in obvious discomfort. "You mean something to people, more than just to me. You'd be missed by them all. I'm… not like that. I'm not worthy."

"Don't be stupid."

"Tch." Hiei bristled visibly and closed his eye.

Kurama sighed. Of course his fire demon was going to continue to be unreasonable about only the demon could see himself the way Kurama saw him. "You have so many people who would be your friend, who would love you if I were gone. You just need to let them in."

Hiei shook his head angrily. "What do you _want_, Kurama? It's done with. Do you want me to say I'm not mad at you anymore?"

"I want you to stop being sad," Kurama answered, desperate to make Hiei understand.

"I'm not sad. I'm not _content_," the fire demon sneered at the word, "but I'm not sad."

"Liar."

Hiei sighed loudly through his nose, frustrated. "_Kurama_," he said warningly.

"There's Yukina," Kurama pointed out abruptly.

"Yukina?" Hiei's eyes opened, wide and adorably surprised. For once he looked his still quite young age.

"Yes. She cares about you, despite what you fear. She would miss you were you to die. And Kuwabara."

Hiei frowned. "The idiot hates me."

"No, he doesn't," Kurama said gently, noticing that he avoided talking more about his sister. "He just treats you as you treat him. There's also Genkai, Botan, Shizuru, Keiko, Koenma – and of course Yuusuke."

Hiei bristled very perceptively at the last name. "Most of those people hardly know me." He didn't bother to admit that Yuusuke was not one of those, not anymore. Kurama knew, because Yuusuke was just as important to him.

Kurama ignored the comment. "As for other lovers, well, there's Yuusuke again."

Hiei turned away, but not before Kurama saw his blush.

The fox grinned, sensing victory. "No? How about Koenma then?"

"_Koenma_?" Hiei echoed, gaping at him.

"Yes, I think that's just about right," Kurama remarked with approval. "Powerful enough that you wouldn't have to worry about restraining yourself, busy enough that you wouldn't have to worry about him being clingy…"

Hiei blushed brightly. "Isn't it blasphemy to think about a god like that?" he demanded, tone mild.

Kurama smirked. "Worried he might punish you? But then, that could be fun too."

The Jaganshi leaned down enough to look at him fully, clearly getting more flustered by the second. "Are you on drugs?"

"Just high on life," Kurama said, laughing happily. "And a little bit of lust. I have to admit you two would look good together."

Hiei folded his arms over his chest. "In that much of a hurry to see me with someone else?" he asked bitterly, cheeks still red.

Kurama softened. "No, but you deserve to be happy." He thought quickly, trying to steer Hiei away from the seriousness. "His bed is probably enormous, you know."

"Probably." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "And there'd no doubt be other perks as well…" Hiei blushed and looked down at Kurama accusingly. "Damn it, now you've got me _thinking _about it!"

"Admit it, the idea isn't entirely unappealing."

"Fine," Hiei huffed grudgingly. "When he's not playing the fool – and given his performance at the tournament I'll not believe that again anytime soon – his power level is somewhat attractive. Satisfied?"

"And his human form is pretty. You like pretty."

Hiei's blush renewed. "Yes," he admitted softly, "quite pretty."

Kurama smirked foxily. "Do you think he could use some of those binding spells in bed?"

The fire demon frowned. "Who knows?"

"You're not imagining it even a little bit?"

Hiei shrugged stubbornly, his discomfort getting more visible.

"Finally seeing what he's like under that act and his control?" Kurama pressed, wheedling.

Hiei squirmed more. "Kurama…"

"Imagining what he looks like under his clothes?"

He flushed. "How long are you going to play this game, fox?"

"Until you stop being mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you anymore," Hiei muttered grumpily.

"Oh?" Kurama leaned up against the tree trunk, curious and eager, his heart beating faster. He had hoped that he could get through to the fire demon, that it wasn't too late for them. He hoped that Hiei still thought of him as a mate.

"I just…" Hiei sighed heavily, glaring down at him, red eyes angry and hurt. "I warned you in the beginning that I don't trust easily. It wasn't just you offering your life to the mirror I was mad about; it was you helping Urameshi so easily!"

Kurama softened again. "And I told you never to ask me to pick between you and my mother."

Hiei frowned and looked away again.

They both had women in their lives that they would sacrifice anything for – his mother and Yukina. But their relationship had been new and they hadn't had time to find a balance where they would never have to sacrifice each other.

Kurama had known even back then that the betrayal would run deep. Hiei truly did not trust easily. He had spent his life being continually abandoned and deceived. Kurama had tried to offer him something Hiei had never gotten, that the fox understood only after living as a human – that unconditional love really existed. He thought Hiei missed that as much as he did.

To Kurama, Hiei was just as important. It was Hiei who had found him in the human world after becoming Shiori's son. He was the first person Kurama could be _Kurama _with, rather than the shy bookworm Shuuichi.

"Hiei, I am sorry that I hurt you," the fox said sincerely.

The little demon sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I… am too."

Kurama held his arms out in offering.

Hiei's expression softened. "Are you sure?" he asked, almost timid. "I'll probably just hurt you again later…"

"Better to love and be hurt than to be alone."

Hiei shook his head at what he perceived as Kurama's foolishness, the fox supposed. He jumped down, blushing as he landed in Kurama's waiting arms.

Kurama beamed and cuddled the younger demon close, possessive now that he finally had Hiei back. He nuzzled Hiei's fur-like hair happily. Through the long months since their first encounter with Yuusuke, he had wanted to do this again. To feel Hiei's warmth pressed close to him. Even worse during the Tournament, with their lives on the line, and Hiei fighting to control his black dragon. There had been a lot of close calls.

Hiei relaxed enough to smile. "You've grown a little bit."

"Oh?" Kurama carefully slid down to sit beneath the tree, cradling Hiei all the while. "I hadn't noticed."

The fire demon nodded against his shoulder. "You probably won't anymore though. You've started merging with your former self."

"Mm, I don't mind."

Hiei nuzzling the redhead's shoulder. "Neither do I, unless you start acting more like your former self as well. You begin sniffing other people's tails and I'll kill them."

The fox giggled. "Even if it's Koenma's?" he asked, unable to resist teasing.

"_Kurama_!"

"Is that a no?" Kurama giggled more.

Hiei gave him a mild look. "I was being serious, fox. I… I care about you too much, don't you understand? If we do this… I can't let you go, ever."

Kurama smiled. If it were anyone else, the obsessiveness might sound creepy, but he knew what a big move forward this was for Hiei. "I understand perfectly because I feel the same way, silly."

Hiei flushed adorably. "Oh."

"What if I invited him to join both of us?" Kurama asked softly, kissing his nose. He liked teasing Hiei too much perhaps, but he couldn't help it. Hiei was so cute.

Hiei gaped. "Fox…"

Kurama giggled, nuzzling and cuddling his lover. "You like the idea after all?"

The fire demon was truly not pouting. "You'd make having sex with a cactus sound appealing, idiot fox."

That got Kurama laughing. "Flatterer."

Hiei smirked. His Jagan eye flashed as he activated it shortly, sending the redhead his new mental image – of Kurama riding a cactus, his naked body somehow not harmed by the spikes.

Kurama gasped, giggling more. "Oh, _Hiei_!" His little demon was far kinkier than he liked to give himself credit.

Hiei's shoulders shook with quiet laughter. "You started it."

While their minds were still connection, Kurama concentrated and imagined Hiei and Koenma together.

Hiei flushed, as Kurama's imagination was much more detailed than his own. He squirmed. "Kurama…"

Then Kurama added himself to the image. He and Koenma had Hiei between them, kissing him, naked, and quickly moving onto other activities.

Hiei moaned softly, squirming more in Kurama's lap. "Fox."

Kurama purred, rubbing back against Hiei. He loved getting Hiei to shed his inhibitions as well.

"Enough, fox," Hiei panted. "I just want _you_, right now."

Kurama smiled, reaching for Hiei's belts. "I think than can be arranged, baby."

"And don't call me a baby. I'm not a child." He helped Kurama with the belts, wanting his clothes off.

"You're still my baby though," Kurama told him with a warm smile.

Hiei flushed and unbuckled his boots. They'd had this conversation about nicknames before, and it never ended in a way the fire demon preferred. Kurama's argument was that if Hiei was allowed to call him "fox" then he was allowed to call the fire demon something too.

Kurama gently tugged Hiei's pants down, movements slow and methodical. Since it had been so long, he wanted to take his time and memorize Hiei's frame again.

"Slow today?" Hiei asked mildly, kicking off his boots and pants.

"Mm, yeah…" He traced his fingers low over Hiei's stomach. "I've missed this too much to rush."

Hiei smiled, not really all that embarrassed to be mostly naked. Right now it didn't matter that anyone could walk by and see them. "Me too. Sorry for that…"

"Since it was partially my fault, I'll forgive you just this once."

"It won't happen again," Hiei said firmly. "Not if I can help it."

Kurama smiled at the promise. "Good, because if it did I'd have to tie you to the bed."

Hiei raised an eyebrow. "You won't tie me up anyway?"

"True. Alright, instead I'd have Koenma help me bind you to the bed."

Hiei flushed, letting his amusement show. "You were never this kinky before…"

"I had a lot of time to fill while you were away," Kurama told him with a mock pout.

Hiei softened. "We won't be parted that long again. At least not for that reason…"

"Agreed."

Smiling gently, Hiei ran his fingers loosely through Kurama's hair, earning a pleased hum from the fox. "I've been dying to touch your hair for months," he confessed sofly.

"I've been dying to kiss you," Kurama said with a smile, bending down to press his lips to Hiei's.

The gentle touches, quiet teasing, and words of adoration continued as they made love in the forest. They exhausted themselves and fell into a peaceful, sated sleep in that very spot.

* * *

Koenma waited until he was sure they were both sound asleep before creeping out of his hiding place. If he had been anyone else, they would have sensed the presence of someone watching them. The former god almost wished that they _had_, so that he wouldn't have seen quite so much. Flushed and frustrated, he returned to the temple.

TBC.


	5. Chapter 5

To Serve and Protect  
Chapter Five

* * *

Several days after he had moved back into Genkai's, Yuusuke was lying in bed, his mind wandering idly. He liked being at the temple again. The old lady kept him busy, which often irritated him, but _fuck_, he couldn't help but remember that he'd thought she was really dead not a week ago. She _had_been, in fact, but apparently Toguro had gone to lengths to not only get Yuusuke to realize his power fully, but to bring Genkai back to life.

How weird was that, anyway? He didn't know how to feel about Toguro after learning that he was just a big-hearted asshole, not a complete asshole. Then the shitface had gone into limbo or something so now Yuusuke would probably never get to confront him about any of it. It wasn't fair in the slightest to the teen. Genkai wouldn't tell him all the details, Koenma had only told him a little bit, but Yuusuke really wanted to know.

Just—_what the hell, man? Killing the woman you love, trying to kill her student? _And yet making it so she could come back, not actually trying to kill her student, manipulating events so that Koenma could stop Sakyo's plan to open a gate between the human and demon worlds?

It was just too entirely fucked up for words.

Then he remembered something he'd forgotten days ago. Koenma had said something weird back at the apartment, when Yuusuke was getting some of his stuff.

_Still_.

"Wait. _Still_?"

It was concerning Hiei and Kurama. Yuusuke had to know. They were important to him.

The teen bolted upright in bed, jumped out, and headed to Koenma's room.

* * *

Koenma felt ashamed and embarrassed for what he'd done, even if the peeping had been done inadvertently. At first, he'd only wanted to get away from the temple – and Yuusuke – so he went for a walk. Perhaps he should've known better than to draw closer to their voices, but he heard his name spoken and became curious.

That part was possibly forgivable, but he'd continued to watch even as things grew more personal. Koenma blamed his human body – he was sixteen years old. He had hormones. Also, if he had moved, the two lovers just might have noticed him then as he tried to leave. That would have been even more embarrassing.

It wasn't that they'd been speaking about him, or at least that was not the only reason. It was watching them and thinking about Yuusuke, who was slowly driving him crazy. Yuusuke was always there now; he insisted on following him almost everywhere, and he kept taking his shirt off (or ripping it off).

Finally, after these thoughts racing through his mind all day, the former god managed to calm his body and drift into an exhausted sleep. Until Yuusuke barged in.

"What?!" he snapped, glaring at the teen.

In surprise, the teen fell off of Koenma's futon. "Hey!"

"Talk fast," Koenma grumbled uncaringly. "I'm tired."

Pouting, Yuusuke sat up on his knees, rubbing his bottom. "Sorry, man. It's just, I remembered something you said the other day… You said Hiei _still_loved Kurama. What did you mean, still?"

Koenma flushed, remembering what he'd witnessed earlier inevitably. (And Yuusuke's current actions weren't helping.) He slumped back down in his bedding. "Exactly what I said."

"I don't get it. Did something happen?"

Koenma yawned. "Mm…"

Yuusuke sat cross-legged on the floor beside him. "Wait… So they were together before, is that it? What happened?"

The former god sighed. He decided to tell Yuusuke so that he'd go away. It had been a long day already, and he just wanted to sleep, not stay up all night exchanging gossip with his Tantei. "They were lovers. Then Kurama tried to use the Mirror of Utter Dark and they fought. Then Hiei tried to kill you, Kurama got in the way and they fought some more. Then Kurama gave me his life in the compact rather than Hiei's and they broke up."

Yuusuke looked shocked by the revelations. "I'll talk to them both tomorrow," he said firmly. "Help them sort it out. Hiei will probably kill me for knowing, but fuck it. If I have to tie them up and leave them alone together in a closet, it's what I'm gonna do."

Which was exactly why Kurama didn't tell him, Koenma thought tiredly, yawning more. His eyes started to drift closed. "Mm, don't bother."

"Why not?"

Koenma ignored him and went back to sleep.

* * *

Seeing how tired he was, Yuusuke took pity on him and let him be. He tucked the sheets up around Koenma, fussing with them unnecessarily.

"Sorry, Koenma," he whispered. "G'night…"

There was a slight smile on the former god's face as he left. Yuusuke grinned and went to bed, to sleep this time.

* * *

The next morning, Genkai had Yuusuke cutting another winter's worth of wood again. Knowing that he would work up a sweat and take his shirt off, Koenma stayed inside so as not to be tempted. He knew he had to deal with these hormones eventually, but for now he chose the ignore them. He certainly couldn't act upon them.

Yuusuke and Keiko were meant to be, their fates predestined. He'd known that from the start.

Falling into unrequited love was one of his bad habits, he supposed.

Of course, he hadn't really prepared himself for Yuusuke getting thirsty and walking inside—still with his shirt off.

Koenma sucked in a breath as he walked past, catching sight of Yuusuke naked from the waist up immediately. He was sweating, as the former god had thought he would be, and old (and not so old) battle scars stood out on his skin against the light streaming in through the windows.

Hearing him, Yuusuke stopped. "You okay?"

Koenma nodded, pointedly looking away to safer things, like the table. He began memorizing the lines in the old wood so that he wouldn't think about Yuusuke's body, and how he'd rather be memorizing it.

Yuusuke drew closer, pressing his hand to Koenma's forehead and surprising him. "Hey, you're not getting sick are you? You're warm…"

"I'm alright." Koenma tried to brush him off.

"You sure?" He tilted Koenma's face up so that he can see his eyes.

Koenma nodded. Then Yuusuke leaned closer, their faces inches apart, and he flushed.

Yuusuke suddenly blushed too and took a step back, letting him go. "Uh. Yeah. You look okay. But take care of yourself, alright? I don't make a great nursemaid…"

Koenma nodded again dumbly, watching Yuusuke shift uncomfortably and rub the back of his neck. What had _that _been about? The teen had always lacked any amount of tact, and had absolutely no sense of personal space, so it was strange for him to suddenly notice it.

Then there was an abrupt change in atmosphere. Even Yuusuke noticed it. "Someone's coming…"

Koenma nodded and stretched his senses to feel them as well, grateful for the distraction.

The Tantei smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Stay here. I'll take care of it."

"You don't know that they're enemies," Koenma pointed out reasonably.

"You don't know that they _aren't_."

"Shouldn't you give them the benefit of a doubt, Yuusuke? We need friends more than we need enemies."

Yuusuke sighed in frustration. "Okay, fine. I'll talk to them first."

Koenma nodded. "I'll come with you."

The teen frowned at him, that stubborn tilt in his chin again. It was the same look he got every time Koenma tried to do something on his own. "I'd rather you stay here."

Koenma frowned right back. He wasn't about to be ordered around, even if it was Yuusuke, who had never intimidated him. "No."

Yuusuke glared harder and appeared to struggle with himself, as if he wanted to argue more. But he didn't. "Alright," he grunted. "But stay behind me."

Koenma agreed, willing to make a concession if Yuusuke stopped being so overprotective. He refused to be flattered by it though.

The disgruntled boy stuffed his hands into his pockets and led the way out to the temple stairs. He appeared to be the casual slacker as always, but Koenma knew better. He had recently seen some of Genkai's training methods, both menial tasks and her more unusual training methods. If Yuusuke thought danger was coming, he was ready for it.

Of course, if ever danger came that he didn't expect, that would be where the problems lay.

Two men were walking up the tall steps to the temple. One was tall – Kuwabara's height, or maybe even taller than that – with dark hair and a strong look in his eyes. The other was fair haired and pale skinned, with a face that was almost too pretty. Of the two, only this one smiled.

"What d'you want?" Yuusuke demanded menacingly.

The dark haired one was not intimidated in the slightest. "Someone left a message for me."

"We don't mean any trouble," said the blond, still smiling.

Realizing who these people must be, Koenma stepped around Yuusuke, who grabbed his arm before he could get very far. The grip hurt his mostly human form.

"Oi!" Yuusuke hissed.

"It's alright," Koenma assured, trying to shake Yuusuke off. He was being so unreasonable! "They're from the cemetery."

"And you're just going to trust them?"

Koenma shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because!" Yuusuke was quickly becoming exasperated.

"You need to have more faith."

"You—I—it's—gah!" Yuusuke let him go at last so he can tug on his hair, frustrated. He began muttering to himself, and Koenma caught snatches of a few insults aimed at him.

Koenma ignored his young friend's dramatics and turned once more to the newcomers. "Hello. I'm Koenma."

The dark haired one nodded. "I'm Kinomoto Touya and this is Tsukishiro Yukito. You were at the cemetery."

"Yes, I apologize if I disturbed anything. I didn't know anyone was looking after it."

"Oh, it's quite alright," Yukito said genially, looking over Koenma's should at Yuusuke, who had now added pacing to his repertoire. "I'm sorry if _we've _caused trouble."

"It's alright," Koenma assured, waving his hand dismissively. "He's just gotten too used to people wanting to kill him."

"Oh my…" Yukito went over to Yuusuke, smiling beautifully and not at all afraid. "We really mean no harm. There's no need to be upset."

"Thanks," Yuusuke grumbled, pausing to glare at the blond, "but I've heard that way too often."

Yukito giggled sweetly. "I see…"

"Yuki," Touya interrupted mildly. He looked vaguely amused.

"Yes, To-ya?"

"Don't scramble his brains too much, we might still need him for something."

"Alright." Yukito offered Yuusuke one more shy smile before returning to his boyfriend's side.

Koenma smiled when he noticed that Yuusuke was blushing from the attractive blond's attention and easy nature. In the shade of the trees with the red straining Yuusuke's cheeks, the slightest of pouts on his lips, he was truly adorable, he couldn't help but notice.

They talked with Touya and Yukito further, but as powerful as they were, their lives were content and without turmoil. They had found a rare peace in the world, with their unusual psychic powers. Not only that, but Touya had a younger sister with abilities of her own to take care of. Koenma would not call on their help, disrupt their lives, without giving the matter much consideration.

He needed allies, but he needed to not get them all killed, too.

* * *

One morning, Yukina noticed that Koenma had failed to get up at his usual time. Normally, the gentle former god was an early riser, and got up a little after she did. They would sit together peacefully, not talking much, while she made breakfast.

Concerned, Yukina went to his bedroom and knocked on the door. "Koenma-sama?"

There was no sound inside.

She stuck her head inside cautiously. Yukina could immediately tell that something was wrong and she approached the bed, checking on its occupant with a kind touch.

"Mm…" Koenma barely stirred, pressing against Yukina's cool hand.

Yukina hummed sympathetically at the signs of a high fever. No wonder he was trying to get closer to her hand—her icy touch must have felt good against his skin. She petted his head gently and healed. "There's not much I can do for the flu, Koenma-sama. The best thing is rest and fluids. How do you feel?"

"Head hurts," Koenma rasped. "Throat hurts…"

Yukina nodded. "I'll bring you some tea as well," she promised.

The ice maiden went to the kitchen and told Yuusuke and Genkai what had happened while fixing the tea.

Yuusuke was on his feet in a flash, brown eyes shining with concern. "Sick?! Is he gonna be okay? Can I do something?"

"It's just a mild case of the flu," Yukina assured, but Yuusuke took off for Koenma's bedroom anyway, rushing down the temple hallways.

She blinked at his abrupt departure, exchanging a look with Genkai.

The elder martial artist shrugged in amusement. "He's always been so energetic."

"I suppose…" She didn't believe that Yuusuke needed to be so worried. Was it doubt in her skills as a physician, or was it his feelings for Koenma? Yukina hoped it was the latter. She worked hard to be a good healer, to have something to offer her friends.

When she returned to the bedroom, she saw Yuusuke tending to Koenma in her absence. The human teen had thought to get their patient a wet cloth, which he had placed on his feverish forehead. He moved it occasionally, turning it over to press the cooler side to Koenma's skin, or to wipe the sweat away.

Koenma looked a little less flushed with sickness now. He emitted the occasional contented sound, the cool cloth likely feeling good on his feverish face.

Yukina thought the flu would likely be rough on him, since this was his first real illness. She didn't think gods could catch colds.

They helped Koenma sit up so that they could get some chicken broth and tea into him. He did not have the strength to feed himself, so Yuusuke was helping him do that, showing a rare gentleness in his care.

"It'll be alright," Yuusuke told him softly. "Just another part of being human. I'll be here 'till you feel better, promise."

Koenma hummed weakly as he ate.

"Okay. Here, try some crackers."

Koenma nibbled them obediently as the teen fed him, his cat-like eyes hooded and sleepy. Yuusuke's fingers brushed his lips but he gave no sign that he noticed. Yuusuke, on the other hand, flushed brightly, and it was definitely not from fever.

Yukina hid a smile. She was beginning to understand why Genkai had been amused earlier—something was happening between the two men though it was likely that neither had noticed just yet. The shy glances, Yuusuke's over-protectiveness, Koenma's disapproval of some of the excessiveness in the boy's training—all showed signs of something more.

As a friend, she did wonder what this would mean for Keiko. As a demon, however, she could tell that Yuusuke and Keiko had not mated, so if Yuusuke chose another, he was not bound by honor or mating bonds. But human relationships were a little more complicated and besides which, Yukina was an ice maiden. They could not form relationships with males so in general she didn't understand how they worked outside of theory.

The most she knew was about what happened to her mother, and that made her wary of forming her own attachment to a man, even after leaving her people.

But she thought Yuusuke and Koenma were pretty obvious. She didn't think she was misreading their interactions. She couldn't see Yuusuke's growing devotion as anything other than that.

"Okay. Ko, up for some tea? Come on, it's just a little bit."

Koenma sipped weakly, but his eyelids continued to flutter.

"He's ready for a nap now, Yuusuke-san," Yukina cautioned. "You did well." She mentally took note of the nickname as well. That, too, was new.

"Okay, Yukina. Just a little more, Ko," Yuusuke encouraged softly. "Then you can nap."

Mewing softly, Koenma sipped obediently.

Yuusuke petted his sweaty hair fondly. "Good boy."

Koenma pulled away weakly from the touch, making another soft noise in protest.

"Does it hurt?" Yuusuke asked, fretting.

The former god shook his head tiredly and Yuusuke just went right on petting his hair. Yukina thought, if they were making progress to a romantic relationship, it was likely to be slow going.

Maybe it was good that neither of them had noticed it yet.

Koenma sighed softly and snuggled his head against the teen's muscular shoulder. Yukina helped by moving the soup, tea, and crackers out of the way, watching as Koenma snuggled even closer to Yuusuke.

"It's okay," said the boy. "Yuusuke's here…"

Koenma smiled a little as he fell asleep.

"He's gonna really be okay?" Yuusuke asked softly, his eyes not leaving Koenma's face.

Yukina nodded, noting that his fever had gone down just a little. She also noticed that Koenma was instinctively drawing on Yuusuke's energy, not stealing it in a vampiric sense because some of his own passed through with the transfer as well. How remarkable. "He'll be fine shortly," she guessed, wondering if she should tell Genkai about her observation.

"Okay…" He went back to petting Koenma's hair. "Am I helping, do you think?"

Yukina resisted the urge to giggle and tease. "I'm sure Koenma-sama appreciates it…"

"I hope so."

Collecting the food onto a tray, Yukina slipped out quietly, leaving them alone. Whatever would be, would be, she knew.

In the meantime, she should probably offer Genkai some tea. She would mention the strange power transfer, but did not believe it was something either of them should worry about.

* * *

Yuusuke held the sleeping Koenma for a long time, feeling good about someone depending on him so completely, and not because of a life or death situation. As if he was worth more than just his ability to kick ass. He liked it.

He got up briefly only to bring in his futon and borrow one of Genkai's small TVs, but he returned quickly. When he turned the TV on, he put it on mute and read the close captioning. The old lady had good satellite TV—though it had a habit of going out every time there was a storm—and Yuusuke found some old cartoons to watch. They were some of the ones he used to watch when he was little, so he relaxed on the pillows with Koenma to catch up with some nostalgia.

Koenma cuddled up to him in his sleep and, thinking this was endearing, the teen pressed a kiss against his forehead.

Then he blinked.

What the _hell _had he just done?!

Yuusuke flushed brilliantly, shocked that he would do such a thing despite how natural it felt. Almost like an instinct. He cared about Koenma, but he had felt that change recently, getting stronger. Like instead of allowing himself to relax the more the days passed and no assassins came for Koenma, Yuusuke just didn't. He continued to worry and wouldn't let Koenma go anywhere alone. He had even been tempted to follow him to the fucking _bathroom!_

He hadn't given it much thought until now.

Koenma smiled softly in his sleep and Yuusuke continued to hold him, questioning himself and his weird feelings.

And the kiss.

TBC.


	6. Chapter 6

To Serve and Protect  
Chapter Six

* * *

When she returned the next morning with breakfast, the sight that greeted her was bemusing. Koenma lied on half of the bed, the other half occupied by Yuusuke, who seemed to have forgone his own futon last night. Koenma sat up watching Yuusuke as the teen continued to sleep, unaware of the observation. His hair as ungelled and tousled; he looked very peaceful.

Yukina smiled and set the tray of food over Koenma's lap. "Are you feeling better?" she asked softly.

The former god nodded. "Some," he said, sitting up slowly, as though reluctant to draw away from or stop gazing upon Yuusuke.

"That's good." Yukina checked Yuusuke to make sure he was not getting sick as well, after spending the whole night with Koenma. "Oh dear. He's exhausted for some reason." She wondered if it as the power transfer. Like she had assumed, Genkai made it seem like it was nothing to worry about.

"I think he tried to stay up all night." Koenma threw her a confused look.

Yukina smiled. "He was very worried about you."

"Hm."

"He's sweet, isn't he?"

"I'm not sure his classmates would agree with you," Koenma quipped lightly.

She giggled. "No, I suppose not. Do you need help eating?"

Koenma shook his head. He really did seem far less sick this morning. As he was only mostly human, his healing abilities must be beyond the norm. Yukina was glad, not having wanted Koenma to be miserable for very long, as the flu usually goes.

"Alright." Gently, Yukina rolled Yuusuke onto his own futon to give Koenma some room.

The teen grumbled in his sleep. "Stupid gods, thinking anyone could do his job…"

"Eh?" Yukina blinked, confused. "Whose job?"

Yuusuke did not answer, snoring softly. He did not seem to be feigning sleep.

Yukina blinked more. How strange. "Kazuma told me about this, but I'd only suspected… He has some latent seer abilities, doesn't he? Unlike Kazuma and Shizuru, he only senses the future in his sleep…"

"Hm," Koenma murmured noncommittally, sipping his broth. He gave no visible reaction to her observation.

The ice demon smiled softly. Likely, Koenma already knew of it. "And you know, his looks much better without the grease in his hair…" She smiled wider, unable to resist the urge to tease this time.

Koenma flushed, stealing a glance at the sleeping teen.

Yukina beamed and let him off the hook. There was no sense pushing things when they'd develop just fine on their own. "Would you like to watch a movie with me? We can keep the volume down so that he can keep sleeping."

"Alright."

The ice maiden went over to the television and put on a round disc from one of the many boxes Yuusuke had scattered nearby. She picked one that had a colorful picture of animals on front.

She was learning how such devices worked fairly well. Humans were so extraordinary in finding ways to entertain themselves. It was very different than how most demons chose to do when they were bored.

She was about to sit on the edge of the bed when Koenma patted the space beside him invitingly.

Yukina smiled and sat beside him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

She pressed play for the movie start, watching eagerly.

Koenma watched as well, nibbling and sipping on his light meal.

Yukina was soon enthralled with the movie. The animated animals were all very sweet, and though there were some sad moments in the film that nearly had her shedding tear gems, she found the overall theme of it to be enjoyable.

Koenma seemed content to watch the movie with her, while Yuusuke continued to sleep. Eventually the movie ended and Yukina put on another film about a red haired mermaid.

"Would you like something to drink?" she asked politely, before getting caught up in the next movie.

Koenma shook his head. "I'm fine, thank you."

"Alright."

Toward the end of the movie, Yuusuke sat up, blinking sleepily at the screen and scratching his stomach under his shirt. "Little Mermaid, huh? Haven't seen that since I was a kid…"

Yukina turned toward him. "How are you feeling, Yuusuke-san?"

"M'fine. Just tired." Yuusuke stretched his arms above his head and yawned widely. "How's Koenma?"

"I'm fine," the former god answered for himself.

Yuusuke smiled. "That's great. Yeah, you're looking way better."

Koenma smiled slightly in return and Yuusuke crawled onto the bed to sit on Koenma's other side, slinging an arm around his friend.

Yukina watched them subtly and smiled. It was safe to say that Yuusuke was definitely becoming aware of his feelings.

"Sorry you got sick, Koenma," Yuusuke said softly. "I noticed you were getting sick before, so I should've done something then…"

"It's alright," Koenma murmured, uncomfortable with the attention.

Yukina felt a little like a chaperon at this point, but she did not mind too much. They sat watching movies until Genkai came for Yuusuke with more chores disguised as training.

* * *

A week passed since they had started living at the temple together, and they had settled into a routine of sorts. Koenma would try to avoid Yuusuke, Yuusuke would seek him out, and they would spend an inordinate amount of time together the rest of the day. Whether Koenma liked it or not.

Maybe he did. A little.

Since he had recovered from the flu, Koenma noticed that the teen was a little more thoughtful. He was quieter and would be caught staring off into space. He had no clue what could be preoccupying Yuusuke's mind.

Then, one morning, they were surprised when Puu flew through the window without warning. The small blue round of fluff came to a stop after circling the room, sitting upon his master's head.

"Puuu~!"

Yuusuke glared upward. Surprisingly, he did not try to shake his spirit beast off. "I thought you were with Keiko, little runt."

Of course, said girl came up the stairs behind him at that very moment. "Yuusuke?"

Her boyfriend jumped, his surprise evident. "Keiko?"

Keiko's body practically vibrated anger as she stormed up to Yuusuke. "Where have you been?"

"Well, here. I've been training with Genkai and protecting Koenma."

This did nothing to appease her. "We've been back from the island for over a week and you haven't once gone to school! Do you know how hard your mom worked to get them to take you back?"

"This is way more important than school!" Yuusuke protested. "Koenma needs me!"

Koenma blushed. That was debatable, and even if he needed Yuusuke, it would be in ways he couldn't have him.

"Oh, so you're going to spend the rest of your life playing spirit detective and living with your mother?"

Yuusuke blushed. "Well, I may not live with my mother… Anyway, don't people usually go to school so that they can get a job? I already _have_a job. It's not playing, Keiko. I take it seriously."

Perhaps a little more than he used to, Koenma agreed silently.

"Where are you going to get money for rent then? It's not like this job of yours pays very well."

Koenma could have looked into some sort of allowance plan for Yuusuke—that is, if he were still a god and if Yuusuke were still a Tantei. Technically, until the seal on his powers was removed, Yuusuke was not working for the Reikai.

"I'll figure something out," Yuusuke grumbled, pouting now.

The girl huffed. "That's just like you, never thinking of anything but the moment."

Puu left Yuusuke's head in favor of Koenma's lap, where the creature huddled sadly. "Puu…"

Koenma petted Puu's fur soothingly, holding the little phoenix chick close. Puu had never done anything like this before, so it was surprising.

Yuusuke's eyebrow twitched. "Keiko. I'm going to stay with Koenma because he needs me."

"That's debatable," Koenma spoke softly to Puu, "not that he'll believe me."

Puu nuzzled Koenma's hand sadly and he continued petting, pretending he wasn't listening. It was more than a little embarrassing, listening to the lover's spat happening right in front of him. But having Puu near, touching the phoenix, made him feel good-like he had a close connection to his true owner.

Yuusuke frowned for a long moment, a strange, calculating sort of expression. Then he brightened and faced Keiko. "Okay. I'll go back to school."

Keiko blinked. "Huh? You will?"

"Yeah, if it'll make you stop bitching about it. But Puu stays with Koenma!"

"But…!"

"No buts. He's not some pet for you to cuddle, Keiko. He's my spirit beast. If something happens to Koenma, I'll know immediately and can come back."

Keiko frowned. "Fine…"

Yuusuke sat down beside Koenma and looked at Puu seriously, without his normal animosity. "Listen, runt. Take care of Koenma for me, okay?"

"Puu, puu~!" Puu flew up to sit on Koenma's shoulder, rubbing the former godling's cheek.

Koenma smiled and petted him warmly, trying to calm to little animal down. When he looked back, he saw a strangely gentle smile on Yuusuke's face. It was a strangely tender expression and Koenma's breath caught in his throat.

Again with that weird behavior. If he didn't know any better, he'd thought Yuusuke would rather spend time with him instead of Keiko.

That just couldn't be possible, of course.

"Koenma…"

"Hm?"

The teen opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again. "I'll… I'll see you later, okay? I'll come back every weekend to check on you."

"I'll be _fine_, Yuusuke." It was sweet, but aggravating.

Yuusuke blushed attractively around his cheeks and ears. "I know. But I'll worry anyway."

"You worry too much," Koenma murmured.

"Yeah, maybe…"

Keiko huffed, grabbing Yuusuke's arm and tugging. "Come on, you have an entire week's worth of homework to get caught up on!"

"I know that." Yuusuke squeezed Koenma's shoulder gently, the one Puu was not perched on, before letting himself be pulled away.

Koenma ignored how his shoulder tingled afterwards. He focused on taking care of Puu.

* * *

After the teen was gone, Koenma expected to finally have some peace. Instead, he felt lonely, as if Yuusuke had brought some sort of lightness with him and now it was gone.

Puu helped, and he spent much of his time with Yukina, while continuing to ignore Genkai's sly, pointed remarks. He still couldn't help but wait for the weekend and hope Yuusuke kept his promise.

On Friday, Hiei returned, and this time he came to the temple proper instead of the woods lining the area. Koenma had been feeding sunflower seeds to Puu at the time and the little fire demon frowned.

"What _are_you doing with Urameshi's pet?"

"He left Puu with me in case something happened," Koenma answered.

"Hn."

Then Kurama came up behind Hiei, somehow surprising him, and Koenma focused very firmly on Puu. He tried not to remember any forest rendezvous.

It was only hormones. Stupid almost human body.

"Dammit fox!"

Kurama giggled. "Sorry, sorry. You're always so jumpy."

The redhead took a seat on the railing near Koenma. The former god could feel his eyes and continued to ignore them as much as possible. He wondered if it was too late to retreat back inside.

"Hello, Koenma-sama."

"Hello, Kurama." Koenma ignored the leering. Kurama flirted with everyone and the former god hoped to whatever relatives of his that would listen to his prayers that that was _all_it was.

The fox leaned forward, red hair falling off his shoulder. "Hey, Hiei and I were talking about you the other day…"

Koenma pretended to be uninterested, but he was cringing inwardly. Was the half-Youko really _doing_this? "Oh? Planning to kill me now that I'm human?"

Kurama giggled brightly. "No, Yuusuke would be very mad if we tried."

"Mm. As if someone being mad was ever enough to stop the two of you from doing exactly as you pleased." He had numerous occasions he could list just in their associations with the Reikai.

"That's true! But as it happens we were talking about something that wouldn't work unless you were very much alive."

"Oh?"

"Yes." Hopping off the railing, Kurama knelt beside knelt beside him and _cupped his cheek._"Would you consider joining us sometime?"

_Oh sweet my merciful aunt. _Koenma's mouth dropped open in shock and tried to pull away. "That's not funny!"

"_Kurama_!" Hiei hissed warningly, cheeks flaming.

Koenma was a little relieved to realize that Hiei had not been in on this scheme. Maybe Kurama wasn't serious.

"Yes, love?" was Kurama innocent reply. "Changed your mind?"

Hiei looked away. "Idiot fox."

Koenma sighed, thankful he'd (mostly) gotten over his embarrassment from watching the two attractive demons having sex. Since Hiei had not tried to kill him yet, he thought it was safe to believe that at least the fire demon didn't know Koenma had seen them. Kurama, on the other hand, was trickier. Why bring this up and anger Hiei when they had just made amends?

"Whatever game you two are playing, _leave me out of it_," Koenma snapped.

Kurama blinked. "It's not a game, Koenma…" His smile was gentle, not leering anymore. "I apologize. My offer was only half serious, and so if it makes you uncomfortable then there are no hard feelings."

Hiei glared harder and Koenma nearly flinched from it, noticing Kurama do the same. The joke had clearly gotten out of hand. It shouldn't have been a surprise though—Kurama just loved teasing everyone and Hiei was easily offended. They were probably doomed to have misunderstandings like this.

"Hiei," the redhead tried, "I didn't mean to offend you either…"

"Kurama," Hiei growled darkly. "There's a difference between teasing me and bringing up pillow talk in public conversation."

"Sorry, my love," he said, sounding genuine.

It seemed the apology came too late. Hiei was shaking slightly, angry and embarrassed, and Koenma looked away again as Kurama tried to hug him and Hiei pushed him away.

"_No_," Hiei said. "You shouldn't have said that, fox. That shit was _just talk!_ And now he _knows_about it!"

"Hiei…"

He heard Hiei leaping onto the railing. "Let me know when you're ready to take this seriously."

"Kurama didn't betray you," Koenma felt compelled to say. It wasn't his habit to interfere—though it was interfering that had gotten him into his current predicament—but he felt it was what Yuusuke would want him to do.

Hiei sneered. "What do you know?"

Koenma sighed. "You were mad that Kurama was going to give up his life to the Mirror of Utter Dark to save his human mother. Then you grew even angrier when Kurama jumped in front of your sword to prevent you from killing Yuusuke. After Kurama gave me his life on your compact, you officially discontinued your relationship. When you finally forgive him, Kurama was teasing you about the idea of you and I sleeping together."

Hiei was surprised at first, then murderous. "How the _fuck _do you know that? Never mind, I don't care. What's your point?"

"He can't very well have betrayed your trust by telling me something I already knew," Koenma pointed out reasonably. "And the answer is no, I won't join you."

Even if he wanted to, his heart just didn't work that way. He couldn't give himself to someone he wasn't in love with, and there was only one person he was in love with right now. He didn't fall in or out of love easily, either.

Hiei glared at him for a moment longer before grunting and turning his back on both of them. "Whatever." He flitted off.

Koenma frowned after the fire demon. He guessed that Hiei must have felt truly embarrassed if he didn't try to find out how he knew all that, or try to kill him to rectify the situation.

Kurama gave a sigh, resting his hand against the spot Hiei had just vacated. "I don't know how to prove myself to him."

It was more than just the teasing, Koenma guessed. Hiei still suffered deeply from that dark childhood that he had only vague reports on. Only Kurama knew all the details and the redhead wouldn't be spouting off about _that_. It was just a shame that the former Youko had let himself get so carried away.

When the redhead turned back, he was wearing a smile that seemed forced. "He'll be fine after he cools off. Of course, that could take the better part of a year."

"As you say," Koenma replied neutrally.

"Are you sure you won't consider my offer?" Kurama teased one final time.

Before Koenma could respond, Puu puffed up in indignation and flew at Kurama, trying to peck at his face.

Kurama cried out and tried to fend the little creature off, arms protecting his face.

"Puu!" Koenma reached for the little chick, taking him back. Puu struggled, intent on attacking Kurama some more. "Stop that, he's only trying to make Hiei jealous so he'll come back." His admonishment was half-hearted though. The fox had to learn that his teasing had consequences, even if Hiei had overreacted.

Puu glared at Kurama with little beady eyes. "Puu! Puu puu puu!"

"Alright, alright, I apologize!" Kurama cried, rubbing the scratches on his arms. Puu had not broken the skin, but they stung and his shirt was ruined.

Puu huffed, a sweetly irritated sound, and nuzzled Koenma's cheek.

"Silly chick," Koenma murmured, petting him. As overprotective as his human.

* * *

Kurama blinked at the touching scene, and comprehension dawned.

Puu was Yuusuke's spirit beast. He was a reflection of the boy's feelings, good or bad. Was the little guy attacking him somehow also a reflection? If so, what did it mean?

He walked away quietly, pondering this new information, leaving the former god and spirit beast. It got his mind off of his new problems with Hiei for a short time.

* * *

As promised, Yuusuke returned that weekend to check on Koenma. It was also when they had an unexpected visitor (unexpected to everyone but Koenma, that is).

The day was almost unbearably hot, so Koenma and Puu sat inside to watch as Yuusuke tried futilely to meditate. Koenma felt safe because it was an activity that did not qualify for Yuusuke's shirt to be off. The teen merely sat there, and with a working air conditioner it hardly seemed necessary to remove clothing.

"Dimwit, clear your mind!" Genkai instructed, growling around her cigarette. "It should be easy, since there's not much in there to begin with."

"But it's boring!" Yuusuke complained.

The elder martial artist twitched. "Clearing your mind in the heat of battle leaves you better equipped for dealing with situations you can't get out of on the fly, like you do normally."

He grinned, unrepentant. "Hey, if it ain't broke don't fix it."

Koenma closed his eyes, listening to the familiar banter and basking once again in their energies. As much as he'd tried to deny it, he was glad to have Yuusuke there.

Also, for some weird reason, Yuusuke still seemed to care and worry about him. Koenma wasn't sure why but he was tentatively happy about it as well.

"Koenma-sama!" Yukina's voice came from outside, interrupting teacher and student. "There's someone here to see you!"

Koenma looked up, not all that surprised. "Ah, I was wondering when she'd show herself." He had occasionally prayed to her, after all. This meant that she had likely been listening all along.

Yuusuke stood, fierce and protective again instantly. "Who? What's going on?"

"Nothing to worry about." Standing fluidly, Koenma settled Puu on his shoulder as if the chick had always belonged there. At least, that was how it was beginning to feel.

He walked toward the door and his domineering Tantei followed quickly at his heels.

"Whenever you say that, it just makes me worry more!" Yuusuke said.

"Would you feel better if I told you it was my aunt coming to visit?" Koenma inquired mildly.

"Eh? You've got an aunt?"

"Idiot," Genkai muttered, following as well. When they were outside, Yukina drew closer to the older woman, looking a little worried also.

They watched as a woman dressed in a filmy white gown descended from the heavens on a small cloud.

"Koenma," she greeted. "Looks like you're getting on well."

"I am," Koenma told his aunt – Guan Yin, or Kanzeon Bosatsu, the bodhisattva of compassion. "And you?"

Kanzeon grinned, flicking her long hair off her shoulder. "Pretty good. My other nephew and his friends are keeping things interesting. They were reborn again, you know, and they've been reunited. Just like clockwork."

"You're one of the few people I've ever heard refer to Konzen as interesting."

She snorted before turning serious. "I've got some good news for you, kiddo." The goddess glanced at Yuusuke, who stood so close to Koenma, his stance protective. "Or bad, depending on your point of view."

"It's interesting that they send you of all people with this '_news_,'" Koenma remarked, eyeing her. It wasn't like the bodhisattva was a qualified messenger.

Kanzeon folded her arms over her (rather substantial) chest. "That should tell you just how important it is."

"Too important for them to send my father and risk me refusing to return."

"Re… Return?" Yuusuke asked softly, surprised.

"Yes," Kanzeon said shortly.

The teen whirled on Koenma. "You're going back?! But—But I haven't even gotten to show you my favorite TV shows yet!"

"It depends," Koenma said honestly, eyeing his aunt. "I haven't heard the offer yet."

"There's an emergency," the goddess told him, though her tone held no urgency in it. "You're being offered your position back in order to oversee its progress, and your seal will be removed."

"An emergency?" Koenma prodded.

"Your oni and Shinigami will have the details ready for you upon your arrival. From what I gathered, they're not too sure what it is yet."

"And why would I want to return?"

Instead of answering, Kanzeon looked meaningfully at Yuusuke, who did not seem at all happy about their conversation.

Koenma raised an eyebrow, silently urging the woman to get to the point.

She smiled mysteriously, keeping her thoughts to herself. "Well, that's for you to decide. I'm just here to deliver the message. The Jade Emperor himself wants you on the job."

Koenma blinked. "Ojii-san?" His grandfather had been at his sentencing, but beyond that, it was unusual for the emperor to get involved in such matters.

"That's right."

The former god narrowed his eyes. "Tell me about this emergency," he demanded in a slightly sharper tone.

"Something about humans showing up with powers that they did not have before."

Koenma frowned. "That can't be all of it."

"That's all anybody knows. Your replacement was incompetent."

Koenma glanced at Yuusuke, wondering if that's what the teen had been mumbling about in his sleep the other morning. It had been something vague about a _replacement_. One day, if he ever felt confident enough, he would sit with Yuusuke and train him to remember his foretelling dreams. "But whatever it is, it's big enough to worry Ojii-san?"

"Apparently," his aunt said, smirking. "Looks like the whole of Ningenkai could be in danger." She threw another look in Yuusuke's direction.

Koenma's eyes narrowed, catching her meaning this time. His association with Yuusuke was to be used to convince him if he didn't agree to go back, right now. He couldn't put Yuusuke in that kind of danger. It was worse than a thousand dark tournaments. "Fine."

Yuusuke reared on him. "Wait, you're just going to agree? You don't even know what's going on!"

"It's my responsibility."

"But…!" Yuusuke cut himself off abruptly, sighing and running a hand through his hair, dislodging the grease hopelessly. "Crap. This is like Keiko an' me arguing about fucking school. Okay, yeah, I know. I just don't fucking like it. It sounds fishy, Ko."

Koenma smiled, flushing at the nickname and ignoring how it made his heart flutter. "I thought you'd be happy. I'll have my powers back."

"I _am _happy about that." Yuusuke glared at Konzeon. "Just not sure I'll like not seeing you whenever I want," he muttered grumpily.

Koenma blinked at him, curious. "Yuusuke?" He almost checked the teen for a fever. Maybe that flu was still going around?

The teen shook his head, blushing softly as well. "Take Puu with you, alright? Just in case."

"Are you sure?"

Yuusuke threw him a sheepish smile. "Keiko won't be happy; she loves the little guy. But, yeah. _I'm sure._I'll feel better if he's with you."

"Alright," Koenma agreed. He'd gotten used to Puu's presence anyway. That tiny part of Yuusuke, constantly with him, resting on his shoulder protectively.

Reaching up, Yuusuke petted the spirit beast. "Little man, you stay with Koenma. I'm depending on you."

"Puu!" said the creature, seemingly agreeing.

Yuusuke smiled, that same warm smile that had Koenma's heart fluttering anew. "Good boy."

"Thank you for your help, Yuusuke," Koenma murmured politely. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt awkward. How could he say goodbye when they would see each other again soon?

Perhaps because it would not be like this. He had never had this kind of freedom before.

"Eh, well, it's what I'm here for." Yuusuke shifted as though he felt awkward too. "You take care of yourself."

"I will, Yuusuke. Please stop worrying so much." Koenma turned to Kanzeon. "I'm ready."

"Alright." Flashing one last smirk at Yuusuke, the goddess created another cloud and pulled Koenma up onto it. "Don't worry, kid. You'll see him again soon enough, I think."

Yuusuke nodded firmly. "Take care of him."

"Of course."

"Koenma!" Yuusuke shouted as he and Konzeon started to rise. "We're still gonna be friends when you're a big time junior god again, so don't you dare forget it! You hear me?! We're still gonna be friends!"

Koenma blushed, unable to help notice how happily Puu nuzzled his cheek. "Alright, Yuusuke. I'll talk to you soon."

"You fucking _better!_"

With that, they departed for the Reikai.

For home.

* * *

They floated up into the sky and eventually disappeared. Yuusuke watched them go sadly.

Genkai jumped up and smacked the teen's head gently. "Come on, dummy, back to meditation."

"Fine…" With one last glance upward, Yuusuke followed her and Yukina back inside.

He hoped Koenma would be okay.

TBC.


	7. Chapter 7

To Serve and Protect  
Chapter Seven

This is the beginning of the Sensui arc, moving back into the anime timeline. Scenes were blatantly stolen, though most of the dialogue from them gets paraphrased and/or changed completely. Nor is everything being rewritten as we mainly follow Ko.

* * *

Emotionally and physically drained, Koenma made his way to the office he had been (politely but firmly) forced to vacate. He was now being forced to return to those same four walls, the seal removed from his back. It still burned faintly; he knew it would be sore for days.

But he was a full junior god again. His power thrummed through his blessedly not human body once more, partitioning off into the pacifier between his lips.

After the removal ceremony, he assured everyone he was indeed alright and could return to work immediately. Though upon stepping inside, he almost wished he hadn't. His body was sore and he craved his bed.

The office was nothing more than a glorified cell. It felt stifling in the wake of his forced freedom at Genkai's.

At least it was lacking the usual paperwork that would normally be there upon an extended absence. There were some, but there was also data reports on the new situation. The normal traffic of souls to be judged had been delegated down to assistant Oni – as it should have been the whole time. This was only a short reprieve because of the current situation, he knew.

Just to spite them all, Koenma took his time settling in his chair, moving things around the desk, and getting a pillow just for Puu to rest upon, before finally taking up the data reports. Reading, he frowned deeply.

Botan poked her head through the side door, George peeking curiously over her head. "Koenma-sama?"

The godling did not acknowledge their presence just yet, reading the page thoroughly, more than once. He became filled with an impending sense of dread.

The readings, the signs, all directed at one point. _This couldn't be._

Keeping a tight hold on his fear, Koenma finally addressed his head Shinigami. "Botan, I'm going to need you to contact Yuusuke."

Botan jumped, stepping on George's foot accidentally. "Uh, yes, sir!"

"George, continue rerouting all normal paperwork until further notice."

The oni nodded, favoring one of his large feet. "Okay! Good to have you back, Koenma-sama," he added breathlessly before rushing off.

When they were both gone, Koenma allowed himself a private moment of self-hatred and guilt. And a great deal of fear.

"Shinobu, why have you come back to haunt me now?" he asked the empty room, holding his forehead.

He regretted, not for the first or last time, that he had not tried to find Sensui Shinobu. If he had kept an eye on Shinobu, instead of letting him go to stew in his own juices, then maybe—maybe now they would not be enemies. Instead, he had grown too close to his Tantei and let his feelings dictate his judgment.

Guilt-ridden over having sent Sensui on that fateful mission, that led to the teen killing all those people and subsequent disappearance. Not even the gods could know what Shinobu had been up to these past few years.

He wished Shinobu had just gone after _him_. After all, it was Koenma's fault.

He stayed there a few hours, brooding and grateful not be interrupted, until Botan finally got back to him. She reached him through the new suitcase she was given as the Tantei's assistant. Like the old compacts, it opened up a communication feed that led directly to his office.

"Koenma-sama!"

"Yes, Botan?"

"It's terrible!" she cried, eyes wide. "Yuusuke's been kidnapped!"

"What?" Koenma immediately looked at Puu, who was sleeping peacefully nearby. He did not seem at all in pain or worried about his human.

Koenma frowned thoughtfully. If Yuusuke were in pain, or afraid, Puu would be reacting to that, but the animal continued to sleep.

"It's true!" Botan went on. "He went to fight these three strange boys after school and when we came to find him, all we found was his school bag and this note!"

Koenma nodded calmly. "Alright. I'll come as soon as I'm able – for now do as the note says."

"Okay! It says that anyone can come, as long as Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama are with us. So we've got to go get Kurama and Hiei. That's easier said than done in Hiei's case."

Who would still be angry at Kurama, he knew. "I have faith. See you soon."

Koenma ordered a death analysis and comparison done on all of Tokyo. It was brought to him with relative ease and he looked it over for any suspicious rise in the death tolls.

George, having brought the info himself, hovered worriedly over his desk. "Uh, Koenma-sama, is there something in particular you're looking for?"

The godling hesitated for a moment before answering. "I'm not sure yet, George. Just anything out of the ordinary."

"Okay, sir… Is there anything else you need? A snack?"

"No," Koenma said, obviously surprising his Oni. "I'll be returning to human world shortly."

George blinked. "Oh… It's pretty serious then?"

"Mm. Someone is opening a tunnel between the human and demon worlds."

"What?!" the oni gasped. "But we just stopped Sakyo's plot!" George shifted his mighty bulk, fretting.

"Yes, I remember. Find the hole, analyze its size and growth rate, then bring me the results," Koenma ordered briskly.

"Uh, sure!" George ran off to get the other ogres on the job.

Prudently, Koenma put all of the energy he could spare into his Mafukan. He had a strong feeling that he would need it sooner rather than later, though he dreaded using its power against his former Tantei. His friend.

George returned shortly with the information he had asked for. "Here, sir. This isn't exact, but we'll keep investigating while you're gone."

Koenma nodded. "Thank you, George." He stood, gathering the reports into a hidden compartment on the desk, locking it into place. He kept many other files there, things he hoped to eventually use against his father someday. First, he had to survive the current crisis.

"Puu?" he called.

"Puu!" Having woken from his nap, Puu flew to Koenma's shoulder as bidden.

Koenma smiled warmly. "Time to go see Yuusuke," he told him, heading for the palace entrance.

The spirit beast nuzzled Koenma's neck in a decidedly worried way.

"Somehow I don't think it's as bad as it sounds."

"Puu?"

Koenma smiled gently. "It's too much of a coincidence to have Yuusuke kidnapped with no apparent struggle just as I return to the Reikai. Besides, you would know before any of us if something were really wrong."

"Puu."

Koenma summoned a cloud to take them back to the Ningenkai.

* * *

When he arrived on the scene, Botan was going through Yuusuke's detective items with Kurama and Kuwabara. They stood together on the pathway in a park in Yuusuke's neighborhood.

She looked relieved to see her boss. "Oh, Koenma-sama!"

"You still haven't found Hiei?" Koenma asked, stepping on the ground and dispelling the cloud. He was still in his adult form, since it was what he was most comfortable seeing them in.

Kurama looked away guiltily. "I'm afraid not."

"Hm." Kurama should feel a least a little guilty. They were wasting time. "The spirit whistle should do nicely in this case, I think."

Botan brightened. "Oh, right! That's one I hadn't gotten around to showing Yuusuke yet." She dug through the case until she found the whistle. "Ta-da! This nifty little thing can emit a sound that only spiritually aware beings can hear."

"I suggest you cover your ears," Koenma advised Kurama and Kuwabara, who did so. The godling braced himself, glancing over at a nearby tree. The branches and leaves covered any sign of the person hiding there.

It would serve him right, Koenma thought, holding one hand over Puu's ears.

Botan blew the whistle, letting loose a shrill, high pitched noise.

It was sharp, invading his brain through his eardrums. Even though it was annoying, Koenma saw that it was affecting Kurama almost as much as him, and Kuwabara couldn't hear it at all, since his Reiki was still in flux. Not that the teen knew that yet.

Then Hiei suddenly fell out of a tree behind them, crashing with a thud.

"Ugh." Sitting up, Hiei rubbed his head. "What the fuck was that awful noise?"

"That was the spirit whistle!" Botan told him brightly.

Hiei glared at them all, though carefully avoided looking directly at Kurama.

"Hey shrimp!" Kuwabara glared right back uncaringly. "Where have you been? We're almost out of time!"

"Tch. Like I care."

Koenma resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was obvious to the godling that Hiei had been stalking his fox mate, most likely for days. He knew the situation already.

"Hiei, Yuusuke has been kidnapped," Kurama told him.

"Heh. He was probably overconfident after the Dark Tournament. Serves him right."

"Be that as it may," Koenma said, eyes boring into Hiei's, in no mood for the fire demon's sarcasm tonight, "we have a duty to go after him."

"The detective is your responsibility, Koenma, not mine."

"If you recall, your parole is still mine, Hiei," Koenma reminded pointedly. "You'll do as I tell you."

Hiei glared and folded his arms, as if he didn't care. "Whatever."

He was just being difficult for the sake of it. They really did not have the time. "Are you saying you refuse?"

The fire demon lifted his chin defiantly. "Yes."

Koenma never liked to be forced to these kind of measures. What choice did he have though? Yuusuke was missing, and while Koenma believed the teen wasn't in true danger, he needed his Tantei to do his job. If he was right, then this was far more serious than a kidnapping.

The whole world was in danger, by the man Koenma least wanted to fight.

"Very well then." Never taking his eyes from Hiei's, he snapped his fingers.

A collar of energy formed around Kurama's throat. The pretty redhead fell to his knees as his throat closed up, his long hair cascading around his face and shoulders. He scrambled at the collar, trying desperately to breathe.

Botan gasped. Kuwabara went to Kurama's side. "What the hell?!"

Hiei stared. "Stop it!"

Koenma's expression was unrelenting. He was Enma's son—there was no room in his life for pity or for having living beings as friends. He tried not to think about how this would make Yuusuke angry when he found out.

"Kurama made the pact with me for your parole. His life is forfeit should you fail to meet the terms of the that contract," he reminded.

If this was what was required, then so be it. The wheel stopped for no one.

On the ground, Kurama moved his lips. He appeared to be trying to say Hiei's name but no sound emerged.

"Stop!" Hiei yelled at Koenma, shaking with rage. He hadn't reached for his sword though.

"Does that mean you'll do it?" the godling asked.

"Fine, just let Kurama go!"

Koenma did not draw it out. He flicked his fingers immediately, the ring disappearing.

Freed, Kurama panted for breath, his pale fingers fumbling at his throat.

The fire demon pushed Kuwabara out of the way and knelt beside his fox. "Kurama…"

"I'm fine," Kurama managed, coughing.

He almost touched Kurama's shoulder but stopped. "I'm sorry, fox," he whispered softly.

Kurama smiled tightly. "I'll be fine, Hiei," he said in a firmer voice. "I'm sorry too." Slowly, he climbed to his feet, Hiei visibly restraining himself from helping.

Koenma watched them and felt a jealousy so keen it hurt. He looked away from the them, so he wouldn't have to witness it.

That kind of thing was never for him, even the bad moments. He tried so hard not to want it, to be above it, but he was only part god. Hundreds of years had not put a dent in his humanity, and he still longed for something more than this life.

"What the _hell _was that, pacifier breath?!" Kuwabara shouted at Koenma, getting right in his face.

"That was getting Hiei to agree," Koenma explained, calm and not impressed. "Now let's go."

Kurama was the one who made the vow, and Hiei was the one who went against it. They could hate him if they wished; Koenma wasn't there to be liked. He just wanted to sort out this mess with Yuusuke and get them on the real case.

"And what if he didn't, were you just going to kill Kurama?!"

"Let it go, Kuwabara-kun," croaked Kurama weakly. "Hiei would not have chosen otherwise."

"No way! You shouldn't have to pay for Hiei's stupidity!"

Kurama shook his head. "Stop, please. We don't have time for this."

"Oh…!" Kuwabara sighed. He turned, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Fine, let's go."

Following them at a short distance with Puu riding on his shoulder, Koenma was unperturbed. He'd known that Hiei would inevitably comply and that Kurama would as well; the redhead had been aware of the possible consequences when he agreed to the compact.

He watched Hiei stayed close to Kurama, and felt that jealousy again.

The spirit beast made a soft sound of concern and Koenma stroked his belly with a fingertip, as much of an apology for these circumstances as he would give anyone.

* * *

They arrived at the old, gothic mansion, and thankfully they were on time, despite being distracted. Kuwabara stooped down to read the note taped to the front door.

"Don't say hot? Is that some kind of game?"

"Who knows?" Kurama murmured, his voice mostly back to normal. "We better follow the rules until we see what we're up against."

Hiei pushed the door open. "Let's just get this over with."

The room they entered was covered from floor to ceiling with strange plants. Koenma felt it as they walked into the room—they had entered some sort of spectral territory. A trap, of sorts, and the plants gave away the intent of the trapper.

Koenma sighted internally and stayed in the back of the group, letting Kurama handle the situation. He focused on keeping Puu quiet, petting the spirit Phoenix gently to keep him calm. The strong Reiki emanating from him let Koenma know Yuusuke was still fine.

* * *

Yuusuke was gritting his teeth and glared at his captor. He had been on his feet for _hours_—not that that was such a hardship, Genkai had made him do more for longer periods of time—and if any of his friends were hurt, these bitches would pay!

But none of them seemed injured when they arrived, all five of them unharmed. He was a little surprised to see Koenma there, but he didn't mention it. If Kido and the others didn't know Koenma's presence was strange, then the less they knew, the better.

"Hey guys," Yuusuke greeted. "By the way, it's really fucked up to be the bait. Next time, Kuwabara gets to do it."

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara gaped. "Why are you just standing there?!"

"I'd love to move," said the other teen, "but I can't right now. This guy," he jerked his chin at Asato Kido, "he steps on your shadow and you can't move. So be careful."

Kido, kidnapper extraordinaire, smirked and told them that one of their number was a fake, as hard as it was to believe. Seriously, how strong were these guys if they could take out one of his friends and replace them?

Yana had the ability to copy someone so completely that there was almost no way to tell them apart. To get free, Yuusuke had to decide which of them was really Yana _and then hit that person._

Well, fuck.

Yuusuke tried asking questions, but it didn't do any good. According to Kido, the copycat would also have a person's memories as well. Yuusuke had to resort to thinking out which was the most logical choice to be taken – and he sucked at logic games like this. Genkai was always trying to get him to use his brain, to no avail.

He tried to think it out as Kido let go of his shadow and the others urged him to hurry. Yuusuke allowed himself to look at Koenma, searching for any sign there of help.

Koenma had Puu on his shoulder. The godling gave Yuusuke a very slight nod.

Yuusuke relaxed. He knew for sure it couldn't be Koenma. Just feeling his cru—er, _friend_—as he entered the room, Yuusuke knew he was a god again. The seal must have been removed because his ki signature was loud and clear once more. The regular clothes he had worn that so hugged the lines of his body, especially his hips, were replaced with the robes Yuusuke had first seen him wearing at the tournament.

Yuusuke smiled at him, his heart beating ridiculously fast. "Still friends right?"

Koenma's eyes widened in clear surprise before he slowly nodded, embarrassed and flushing sweetly.

The teen smiled wider. There was no faking that, even if this Yana asshole had Ko's memories. This was his Ko for sure.

He turned to the others. Hiei and Kurama were too smart to fall for a trap that like. They would've beat the kid up before he even thought about copying them.

That left Botan and Kuwabara, and if he picked on Botan, who was their only non-fighter in the group, then it would have been _really lame. _

That left Kuwabara.

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelped as Yuusuke swung, but the punch threw him back. Yuusuke relaxed, satisfied, as his friend transformed into another teen entirely before passing out.

That was two down. One to go.

"Now give me back Kuwabara, you punk!" Yuusuke yelled at Kido.

"Fine…" Kido turned to the door behind him as it opened. "I'm sorry, master. We failed."

Yuusuke gaped openly as none other than Genkai emerged from the dark room beyond. "Baa-san?!" What the _hell? _

"Hello, Genkai," said Koenma, with absolutely no surprised whatsoever.

Genkai smirked up at the junior god. "Should've known you'd have it figured out, Koenma. Thanks for not spoiling the surprise."

"I was curious as to your intentions," Koenma responded neutrally.

His Tantei turned on him, growling. "You knew?! Then did you know they'd kidnap me too? I mean, what the hell, man?" Genkai was one thing, but it hurt that Koenma might've been involved as well.

"No," Koenma said. "I only sensed Genkai's energy once we had entered the house. Also, Puu was worried but not in pain. It was obvious you had been taken by people with no intention of hurting you."

"Oh." This appeased him. Somewhat. "Well, that's okay then." Faith restored in his—oh hell _his crush_—he turned back to Genkai. "But why did you do this, Baa-san?"

"To teach you a lesson, idiot," the old woman responded.

Not this crap again. "And just what was I supposed to learn, O Wise One?"

"Not to rush into things like a moron, _moron_. Which is what you did."

He twitched more. "Why, you…"

Kurama stepped forward, touching Yuusuke's shoulder. "Please explain, Master Genkai."

From behind Genkai emerged another figure. It was the missing member of their team, and all he was wearing was a pair of bright red boxers. Yuusuke gaped.

That _was it_—he was so throwing out those boys love manga. There was no way in hell he should be appreciating Kuwabara's height and muscles just because he was almost naked. Just _holy crap_, what the fuck?

He needed to get laid, that's what it was.

"Baa-san's explained most of it to me already," Kuwabara said. "In the last few weeks, something happened that gave psychic abilities to otherwise normal people—like these guys." He motioned at Kido.

Genkai nodded. "I think Koenma has a bit more to tell than I do. Now Kuwabara, go put your clothes back on before Yuusuke's hormones make him go nuts."

"What?!" Kuwabara turned accusingly to Yuusuke just as Yuusuke turned away.

He was so getting Genkai back for this. Revenge may not come swiftly, but it would be his. Eventually. Oh yeah.

Kuwabara finally put his blue school uniform back on and Yuuske relaxed. He turned back to his boss curiously. "D'you know what's going on, Ko?"

The nickname was still coming embarrassingly easily. Sadly, it wasn't causing Koenma to blush anymore, and boy, was that weirdly disappointing.

"A tunnel is being opened between the Reikai and Ningenkai," Koenma explained.

"Eh?!" Like Sakyo. Shit.

"That's why we three came to Master Genkai," Kido explained. "We wanted to control these new powers and help stop whatever was happening."

"Huh. So you're not really a wannabe kidnapper. Good to know. Let's be _best friends_," Yuusuke added, just so that the kid knew he was being sarcastic.

"I've been training them in secret," Genkai explained, "and we set up these trials in order to make sure you and your friends were ready for what lies ahead."

Yuusuke frowned. "Bitch." She could've just told him like a normal person.

Genkai smirked. "That'll teach you not to run into things without thinking, brat."

"That ain't nothing." Once dressed, Kuwabara went to Yuusuke. "You should've seen what he did to Kurama on the way here!" He jerked his thumb at Koenma angrily. "Just because Hiei didn't want to come with us, he did something to Kurama's neck and nearly killed him!"

Something in Yuusuke's chest went cold. "What?" he asked darkly. "You're lying."

"It's true!"

"Idiot," Yuusuke scoffed, punching his friend in the arm a little harder than he needed to, making Kuwabara flinch. "You should know by now not to believe everything you see."

Kuwabara glared. "I know what it looks like when someone's choking, you idiot!"

"He's speaking the truth as he knows it," Koenma broke in.

"See?" Yuusuke looked back at Koenma. "So what's he talking about?"

"Hiei tried to deny me."

Yuusuke blinked slowly. He wasn't imagining Koenma and Hiei in some sort of kinky non-con situation. He was not. Absolutely not. He'd go to his grave denying it.

"Uh… Because Hiei didn't want to come with you?"

"Indeed."

"So you just scared him a little, right?" Yuusuke asked nervously. "You wouldn't really hurt Kurama…"

"It wasn't my choice."

Nearby, Hiei grumbled darkly. Botan shifted closer to Genkai, worriedly biting her lip.

Yuusuke frowned. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

Kurama touched Yuusuke's shoulder again, and it was just as calming as the first time. "Please listen, all of you. After Hiei was arrested, he wasn't just going to be charged for the theft of the three artifacts, but for hurting humans. I made a deal with Koenma. I offered my life for Hiei's free pardon." He looked directly at said fire demon, his green eyes softening with immeasurable tenderness. "It was my choice, no one else's."

Yuusuke relaxed at the look the two demons exchanged. So they really did love each other. It made him feel good—really good. For no other reason than knowing they'd fight, probably a lot, but they'd make each other happy. Them being happy made Yuusuke happy.

"Once the compact is given it takes on a life of its own," Koenma added mildly. "From the moment it was signed to the point Hiei is freed of his debt, any refusal on his part means Kurama's death."

Yuusuke looked between the three of them and wished, very dearly, that he could be mad at _someone_. Unfortunately, none of them seemed to truly be at fault. Hiei looked ready to fall on his own sword, Kurama was the victim, and Koenma was… well, Koenma. Yuusuke had made a few bargains with the godling too just to be around today.

Now his egg that he thought he destroyed to save Keiko in a fire had hatched, Koenma occasionally had a teenage body, and he'd spent time as a human. Also, Yuusuke had weird feelings now and they weren't going away. If anything, they were stronger seeing Koenma again.

He'd missed him.

"Okay. Fine. Whatever. But if I hear about it again, someone's getting punched!" Yuusuke folded his arms and tried to look grouchy and nowhere near as gushy as he felt. "Now, let's hear about this tunnel. Do we know where it is?"

"Roughly," Koenma said, producing a folder from his robe. "A tunnel of this kind normally forms as a sphere with the center-most point being the disturbance that creates it."

Yuusuke pressed close to Koenma as he looked at the pages, feeling really shameless. "Right. So what's creating this, a demon?"

Koenma gave no reaction. "No. A psychic, and a powerful one at that."

"The three dimensions are separated," Genkai said, "but occasionally small openings appear and demons sneak through—such as Hiei and Kurama did. Bigger ones, though, have to be made. Normally they appear in four stages. Right, Koenma?"

Koenma nodded. "The sudden influx of new psychics was stage one. As demon insects start to appear, we can safely assume that the tunnel has moved to stage two. Once stage three happens, lower level demons with a thirst for human flesh will begin to slip through and finally, when the tunnel is fully open, the worst of the Makai will come flooding through."

He explained about the kekkai barrier which worked like a big fishing net. It kept more powerful demons from getting in, but it let the smaller ones get through since it was stretched so far. It didn't seem entirely fair to Yuusuke, but the alternative sounded pretty frightening.

Botan's eyes widened. "That means demons above B class will get through?"

"Class?" Yuusuke asked. This was a new term for him.

Yuusuke's assistant nodded. "We didn't tell you before, but Youkai are separated by Reikai into distinct classes by their levels of power. C class and below, B class, A class, and the super A class called S class. For a point of reference, Toguro was only a B class."

Yuusuke was understandably stunned. "_Only_B class? Holy crap!"

Then the still irritated Hiei demanded what his class was and Yuusuke suppressed a sigh. There was no way in any of the three worlds that this was going to go well.

Koenma frowned subtly. He seemed to have the same feeling. "Does it truly matter?"

Hiei shook off Kurama's warning hand. "Yes."

"Hiei, seriously, you kick ass," Yuusuke interrupted. "It doesn't matter."

"Shut up, detective."

Koenma's eyes narrowed. "You and Kurama would both be considered middle B class, while Toguro was an upper B."

Hiei glared. "Don't underestimate me."

"When you fought Yuusuke, you would only have qualified as a middle C class. You've grown a great deal in only a few months. It's actually an accomplishment."

"Don't patronize me either!" Hiei turned and walked toward the door.

"Hiei!" Kurama cried.

"Gonna let Kurama be hurt again just because you had to throw a hissy fit?" Kuwabara growled at the short demon's back. "That's a _great_way to show us all just how strong you really are, Hiei."

Yuusuke blinked. He hadn't realized how strongly Kuwabara felt about this. Kurama and Koenma looked surprised too.

Hiei gritted his teeth, red eyes flashing dangerously. "Shut up, idiot."

"No, I _won't _shut up! If you feel bad about Kurama being hurt, then you should stay and help! Running away won't change anything."

"That only shows how little you know." Hiei flitted away.

"Jerk!"

"Let him go," Koenma advised softly. "I never said he had to stay, so the contract won't act out again. We'll just have to do without him."

Yuusuke grinned. "Nah. Hiei's a cranky little bastard, but he's a real softie. He'll show up again when we need him the most."

"Mm…" The moment over, Koenma turned back to the map. "The most likely location for the psychic would be here," he said, tapping a patch of vacant land.

Kido nodded. "Makes sense. That's in our district."

"Our best bet of stopping this whole thing is to find and deal with the psychic responsible for the initial distortion."

"How long do we have?" Yuusuke asked.

"Current estimates suggest a month or possibly two, but our calculations are based only on preliminary information and could change rapidly."

Yuusuke frowned. "Less vague, Ko."

"I can't be. That's what I'm trying to tell you, Yuusuke." Koenma looked at him, spreading his hands helplessly. "There's no way I can tell you for certain."

Yuusuke sighed, rubbing the ache in the back of his neck. "Alright. So, a month at most."

Koenma nodded. "I'll get you more information as I receive it."

Surprised, Yuusuke looked up and caught the godling's golden brown eyes. "You're going back?"

Koenma nodded again.

"Oh…" He tried to smile and hide his disappointment. Koenma had _just_come back. "See you got your powers back though. Shit, that pacifier is distracting." He poked it teasingly.

The godling flushed slightly, tilting his head away from his teasing finger. "Be careful, things may not be as they appear."

"It sucks," Yuusuke said softly. "Can't see your mouth."

That got him the flush he had been aiming for, but before Yuusuke could enjoy it, Koenma was gone. Just _gone_. He'd left the map, though, which Kurama handed to Botan for safekeeping.

Yuusuke stared at the spot Koenma had been standing, feeling distinctly like something had been yanked out of him. Like the god was really a missing limb or organ or something.

It wasn't fucking fair.

* * *

Koenma took himself amidst the cherry blossom trees outside the Reikai palace where he worked, taking a moment to catch his breath and calm his racing heart.

There was no way Yuusuke had been flirting. He loved Keiko, and not only that, he didn't flirt with other guys! That was Kurama; flirting was just in the fox's nature. Yuusuke was… Yuusuke. He cared mostly about fighting and was still in denial about his love for Keiko. He didn't even flirt with _her_. So there was no way.

It was just an innocent comment, he assured himself. They had grown closer since Genkai's "death" and during his time as a human, that was all.

Yuusuke hadn't meant to, and that was why it hurt. It hurt that the teen so naively got Koenma's hopes up, his heart beating fast, his palms clammy.

"Ko-chan?"

Koenma turned toward the call absently. He saw a familiar and welcome figure approaching him.

"Ko-chan, what's happened?" Asato Tsuzuki ran up to him, touching his arm, and Koenma leaned into him.

But despite how much he trusted Tsuzuki, Koenma hesitated. "Nothing, I've just been too busy…"

Tsuzuki pulled him into a hug without warning, just like always. His arms were warm and familiar of a time when things had not been this complicated.

"Yeah. I heard you just got back and they pushed some disaster on you first thing."

"Yeah." Koenma let himself be hugged, wrapping his arms around Tsuzuki and clinging. He had had so little in his life approaching normal relationships. Tatsumi and Tsuzuki were very close friends. Of course, his father knew that, so Koenma did not see them often anymore.

Not that an order from Enma would really stop Tatsumi.

"Poor Ko-chan." Tsuzuki petted his hair gently. "If you need us, Tatsumi and I are always here. And now Hisoka. He's your friend too!"

Koenma sighed and hid his face in Tsuzuki's shoulder, as if he were five years old again. "I know, but some things I have to do for myself."

Tsuzuki smiled. "Well of course. The Chief and Tatsumi raised you to stand on your own two feet. But there are sometimes when everyone needs help," he added gently.

"I have help…" Yuusuke could be annoying and wonderful by turns, but he did help as much as he could, even when he didn't know it. Koenma was the fool that wanted more.

"Oh yeah! That new Tantei of yours. He's working out okay?"

Koenma nodded. "He is." When he wasn't driving him crazy or worrying him sick.

"That's good. You wanna come see Tatsumi? We were about to have lunch."

"I… guess I have some time," Koenma admitted slowly. He didn't actually, he had to find Sensui Shinobu and stop him from destroying the world.

But he needed the comfort of these dear people, if only for a little while. He wanted to stop hurting, to stop feeling so unworthy, just for a few minutes.

"Great!" Tsuzuki kept an arm around Koenma and lead him down the familiar cherry blossom trail to the division building, away from Enma's palace.

Koenma let himself be dragged away, trying not to think about Yuusuke for awhile.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

To Serve and Protect  
Chapter Eight

* * *

As he walked through the passages of the dark cave, Koenma thought about what had transpired the past few days since he had last been in the Ningenkai. Puu rode on his shoulder, a silent but warm presence.

Yuusuke and his friends had gone to Mushiori, the district of Tokyo they suspected the portal to demon world to be originating. They'd caught a glimpse of the mastermind behind the plot, confirming Koenma's suspicions. His dread, really.

Later that same day, Yuusuke fought and almost killed a man codenamed The Doctor. Yuusuke had been torn about killing Doctor, though inevitably accepted his duty as Keiko and the others' lives were put at risk inside a hospital. Genkai thankfully intervened, so Yuusuke still retained that sense of blood innocence. Even after Toguro, Yuusuke was finding it difficult to kill another human being.

This heartened Koenma slightly. It was yet another difference between Yuusuke and Shinobu, a line that his current Tantei had yet to cross. Even if Shinobu had been pushed to that.

At least Kuwabara had his Reiki back. Soon after the incident with Doctor, they'd met with another one of the mysterious 'seven' called Seaman – a lonely teenager named Mitarai. Creating creatures by fusing his blood with water, Mitarai had held Kuwabara's gang captive, forcing Kuwabara to tap into a previously unknown ability similar to his Rei Ken called Jigen Tou.

That was just yesterday. Now, having returned to the human world, Koenma was now ready to face his mistakes and hopefully appeal to the other side before things got completely out of hand. This was not a fight he wanted to happen.

He absolutely could not let Yuusuke fight Shinobu. Not if there was still a chance that he could stop this.

He walked quietly through Demon's Door cave, following the familiar psychic energy. There was only one person it could be. Koenma was just relieved to find him alone in the cave.

"Itsuki."

The long haired demon sat in a boat, floating in the middle of a small body of water. His eyes were closed as he concentrated on the tunnel behind him.

"Koenma-sama," he greeted. "Long time."

The godling walked across the water, his feet only lightly touching the surface, and stepped into the boat with the demon. "What madness is this, Itsuki?" he asked once he was settled, eyeing the long-haired demon.

He looked nearly the same as Koenma had last seen him, with that same quiet, ethereal beauty.

Itsuki's eyes opened slowly. He looked briefly at Puu but chose comment on the phoenix's presence. "Things have already been set in motion. I am merely caught in the current that Sensui-san has created."

"Why would you agree to help him with this? You know it will only lead to his destruction."

"It's too late," Itsuki replied shortly. He looked away, to the tunnel near him and the lesser demons trying to claw their way through.

Frowning, Koenma guessed that "too late" meant more than just the tunnel. "For Shinobu, of all people, I would give him pardon even at the last second before the tunnel was open…"

Itsuki did not rise to the bait. "He won't listen. You know how determined he is, when he sets his mind to something."

"How long?" he asked.

"The tunnel will open in a few hours."

The god's eyes narrowed. "Do _not _play me for a fool, Itsuki. How long does Shinobu have to live?"

"You'd better be quick, Koenma," Itsuki said with a slight smile. Still not meeting his eyes. "Or you'll be losing _two _Reikai Tantei. Why do you think Sensui-san isn't here right now?"

"Itsuki!"

"Please. I'm trying to concentrate." Itsuki conjured two arms from subspace and tried to lift Koenma out of the boat.

Sighing, Koenma pushed the arms away with his own powers before they even touched him. On his shoulder, he felt Puu shift restlessly. "Itsuki, please. As a favor to someone who used to be a friend, _how long does Shinobu have?_" he asked despairingly.

For just a moment, Itsuki seemed to hesitate, but he shook his head. "I can't give you any information that might betray him, Koenma-sama. Not even that. And you should hurry."

Koenma stayed right where he was, watching the demon carefully. "I came with the intention of asking for your help. I suppose I should have known better than to expect you to give up unrequited love for a long ago friendship."

It was more than a guess that Itsuki, while he would support Shinobu, was not entirely happy about the former Tantei's plans. Their relationship would never have the "white picket fence," happily ever after now, and in that sense it would become unrequited. However tentatively their relationship had started, Sensui seemed to get over his prejudice of demons-at least as far as Itsuki was concerned.

Not that Koenma knew everything about their relationship. Even when they were friends, it wasn't exactly his business, and both Shinobu and Itsuki were private people.

Itsuki didn't seem bothered by the implication though. "Then you should know my answer already. Go, Koenma."

"I have faith in Yuusuke," Koenma said, and meant it. "If Shinobu is as the reports make him out to be, he won't kill unless I'm there watching."

Then, just because he felt like it, he reached out, gently pulling and twisting Itsuki's long hair into a familiar high ponytail. Like Itsuki had preferred to wear it long ago. Koenma felt a sharp pang in his heart, because he thought it would be the last time he did that.

His friend had once let him play with his hair all the time.

Itsuki softened considerably. "Half a month," he answered softly, at last.

Koenma nodded grimly, securing Itsuki's hair. "You were the only thing he ever asked me for." It didn't sting to admit it, like it hadn't to allow Itsuki to remain in the Ningenkai, so that he and Shinobu could stay together. He'd been happy just to see them happy.

He knew that Itsuki knew that Koenma had been in love with Shinobu as well. They'd never argued about it, merely leaving it up for the Tantei to decide. Shinobu made his choice and there were no hard feelings. Koenma had plenty of regrets from that time, but this wasn't one of them.

Itsuki sighed. "He's also after someone who can cut through dimensions – to slice through the kekkai barrier."

Koenma paused before finishing with Itsuki's hair. "Thank you." He stood. "For what it's worth, I am very sorry. I hope that somehow you both find peace when this is over."

"And I hope your Yuusuke is as strong as I've heard him to be."

"So do I." Because it looked like there was no avoiding it now. Yuusuke would have to fight Shinobu.

Unless.

_Unless_.

Koenma left, heading for Yuusuke and the others.

* * *

Yuusuke leaned against the railing of the balcony outside his apartment. He stared moodily out at the street below, watching the small forms walking along the sidewalks, the occasional car passing by.

They had no idea what was going on. That demons could be roaming the streets again, like in the bad old days that humanity no longer remembered, apart from old legends about gods and monsters. Humanity were about to find out that those old ghost stories weren't just make believe.

And the world's only defense was a group of dysfunctional teenagers that, even if they succeeded, they would never know. Not that Yuusuke did this for any fame and glory, but maybe Keiko was right. It'd be nice to get a paycheck out of this gig.

Yuusuke sighed. Keiko. Koenma. _Fuck_. If he didn't have the end of the world distracting him now, he would have to decide what to do about his feelings. He had no idea what he was going to do, but at least he had an honest excuse to not think about it for awhile.

He glanced at Kurama as his friend stood next to him. The redhead couldn't have gotten anymore sleep than he did the night before, but he looked as put together as usual (outside of a fight, that is. It was the only time that Kurama so much as mussed his hair.)

"I feel kind of bad for Mitarai. That Black Chapter tape really messed him up."

Kurama cupped his chin in his hand. "Mm, yes. There are many demons who wish they could get their hands on that tape."

"Oh yeah?" He looked at Kurama and recognized the look on his face, the casualness in his voice. "Shit, Hiei does?"

Kurama nodded. "He thinks it would justify his hatred of humans. I admit, there was a time I wished I could see it too."

"Man, this sucks." Yuusuke's shoulders slumped. "Well, I guess I know what to bribe Hiei with when he comes back." He still didn't doubt that he would.

"Perhaps. I'm more interested in knowing how Sensui got the tape in the first place."

"Yeah… There's a lot more to this," Yuusuke noted unnecessarily. He just couldn't figure out what he was missing. Maybe if his love life wasn't so messed up...

Kurama shifted and looked off into the distance for a long time before speaking again. "Yuusuke, I believe Koenma may know who is behind this attempt."

Yuusuke straightened immediately, feeling like lightning had struck. "What?!"

"The Black Chapter tape is a closely guarded secret of the Reikai, more so even than the three treasures Hiei and I stole. They were supposed to be in possession of it. If this Sensui has it…"

"Then he stole it from the Reikai," Yuusuke finished.

"And as the prince of Reikai, Koenma must have a least some idea who he is. That's why I have—" Kurama cut himself off. "Wait, Yuusuke!"

Yuusuke already had Botan's laptop-thing open, not waiting for the redhead to finish talking. "Koenma! Damn it, pick up the phone! Don't you dare ignore me! Ko!"

No answer. Yuusuke shook the machine violently, hurt and angry, ignoring Kurama sigh behind him.

"Damn it, Ko! Pick this damn thing up or I'll—"

"I can't be in two places at once, you know."

The teen blinked, looking up to see Koenma standing in the doorway. Just seeing him again, Yuusuke could almost feel something slot back into place. For a second, all was right with the world.

Then he was in front of the godling, holding him by his shirt front. The movement jostled Puu, but he ignored the creature's complaints.

"Do you know who's behind this?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because until recently I couldn't be sure." Koenma glanced away, looking guilty. "And part of me didn't want to believe it until I had no choice."

"Damn it, Koenma…" He was angry, punch and ask questions later angry, but he let go of his friend, his hands shaking with the effort of restraining himself. "Sit. I'll go get Kuwabara and the old lady."

Koenma did as bidden, blinking at him in surprise, and the emotion in those golden-brown eyes went a long way to calming the teen's anger. Yuusuke left the room, heading down the hall.

Immediately, that sense of something being missing was back, and Yuusuke knew he wasn't really mad at Koenma. This Sensui guy had him rattled, the way he was controlling and manipulating people, combined with the self-righteousness and the strength he carried. Yuusuke had never had an opponent like this.

There must have to be a reason Koenma hadn't told him. He just had to wait for the godling to tell him what the reason was.

Waiting sucked.

Sighing through his teeth, Yuusuke fetched the others.

When they were all gathered together, Yuusuke took a seat beside Koenma at the table, trying to show his willingness to give support-and he also just wanted to keep him close. "Alright. Tell us what you know."

"His name is Sensui Shinobu," Koenma answered eyes on the cheap tabletop his mom had found used at some clearance sale. "He was my Reikai Tantei before you, Yuusuke."

"A Tantei?!" Kuwabara balked.

Koenma nodded, and while the rest of him was calm, almost cold, Yuusuke thought his eyes seemed sad.

It reminded him of seeing Kurama for the first time. The demon teen had been prepared to give his life for his mother's restored health, having grown to love the mortal woman in his time in the human world. It hadn't come to that, but Yuusuke still remembered the look in those green eyes.

And then Yuusuke knew. That's why Koenma hadn't wanted to be right about this—Sensui was a _friend_. Someone he had cared for.

"If there was ever a human destined to be a Tantei, it was Sensui Shinobu. From birth he was gifted with incredible spiritual powers. Both offensive and defensive."

"What happened, Ko?" Yuusuke asked softly.

"When Shinobu was fourteen, I offered him the chance to become spirit detective. He agreed and worked for me for several years before he witnessed something he shouldn't have."

"What was it?" Kurama prodded gently, and Yuusuke spared him a thankful glance. It seemed he wasn't the only one that noticed the god's pain.

"I sent him and his partner on a mission to the Black Black Club, which was then just forming. They had begun capturing and trading in demons for their purposes – and that night a deal was supposed to go down that would spread their influence to all corners of the globe. Unfortunately, to celebrate the success of their meeting they decided to throw a party they called the Feast of Human Vices."

"Why do I think that's got nothing to do with eating a turkey dinner?" Yuusuke asked, feeling sick.

Koenma continued. "Shinobu bore witness to his fellow humans torturing, raping, killing, and _eating _many of the demons they had captured. He always had such a black and white view of the world; to see this horrendous picture and knew it was caused by humans… It broke him. In his mind, humans were good and demons were bad. This was the exact opposite."

"Kinda like when we rescued Yukina," Yuusuke noted.

Koenma glanced at him, eyes still sad, but they seemed to soften for just a second. The teen felt it wasn't just his imagination playing tricks on him.

"Shinobu took it much harder than you. His mind simply snapped, and I had him taken off duty and relegated to the healers. I only saw him a few times after that; every time he would ask me, 'Are we really worth saving?' Then one day he and the Chapter Black tape just disappeared. He said not a word to anyone, not even his former partner."

"Until now," Genkai stated blandly. "He's using the tape in order to convince weak-hearted people to help him to open this new tunnel."

"Yes," said Koenma. "And he has a powerful psychic to help him. At this rate the tunnel could be fully open within the day."

Yuusuke gaped. "The day?! First I have a month, then three weeks, the one week, now less than a _day_? Damn it!"

"I'm sorry, Yuusuke," Koenma told him sincerely, and he believed it. "I wish I could give you more time, but I can't."

Disgruntled, the teen leaned forward, his elbow on the table as he tried not to stress out. This wasn't his first Apocalypse deadline, and it probably wouldn't be the last, but it wasn't easy. In fact, he felt it would be tougher than before.

He was just a stupid punk-he didn't know how to deal with the world hanging on his shoulders.

"Fine, we'll deal." He looked at Genkai. "See, it's a good thing I'm always half-assed! Take yourself too seriously and you'll turn into a fanatic."

"I admit, I chose someone as different as I could from Shinobu after what happened," Koenma murmured.

"Oh, that's why!" Kurama cried. "I'd wondered!"

Yuusuke glared at him, and later he would deny pouting. "Kurama…"

The redhead smiled angelically. "Well, it's true. You are not exactly… dedicated."

"Hey, I'm here, aren't I?!"

"It was a good decision. Yuusuke has far outperformed anyone's estimates of his initial ability." Koenma smirked slightly, his whole face brightening. "And he certainly worked well enough as bait for you and Hiei."

Kurama flushed and looked a lot less amused. "Indeed."

"Unfortunately," Koenma steered the conversation back to the matter at hand, "Sensui disappeared ten years ago and so any estimates I could give you of his powers would be all but little use now."

"We'll figure it out," Yuusuke assured him.

Koenma looked at him, his eyes still tragic and serious. "Be careful, Yuusuke. Even before he disappeared, Shinobu was dangerous and not to be underestimated."

The teen grinned as recklessly as he could, wanting to reassure him. "I'm not going off half-cocked, Ko. Baa-san's been drilling it into my head."

Koenma did not look impressed.

He was about to reach for Koenma's arm, to open himself up and reassure him more seriously, when he felt a presence outside—sudden, no warning, and Yuusuke jerked in that direction. He rushed to the window, Kurama right beside him.

On the roof of the building across the street stood Sensui, as smug as when they had last seen him. Beside him stood a teen about their age wearing a red leather jacket.

Koenma followed them, a warm presence at Yuusuke's side, close enough to touch. "Shinobu…"

"They're after Mitarai!" Kuwabara shouted. He raced out, heading back to Yuusuke's bedroom presumably. Yuusuke left him to it, sparing a moment to be glad his big friend had gotten over whatever was keeping him from using his powers before. He was going to need the large dope on this one; not that he wanted to admit that out loud.

"What are you up to?" Koenma asked, and his tantei glanced back at him curiously, before realizing that the god wasn't speaking to _him_—his eyes were on the tall figure outside.

Yuusuke frowned as Sensui started to move his lips as if to answer him, though it was impossible to hear from this distance. "Damn, what I wouldn't give to read lips."

"He's saying that he knew Mitarai would come over to our side and used it to his advantage," Kurama told him, unsurprisingly able to read lips.

The current Tantei suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and glared at his adversary. "Manipulative bastard." He glanced at Koenma, noting his troubled expression. He touched the godling's shoulder, concerned.

Koenma didn't seem to notice. "Looking for one among you? But who here could he use to cut through the barrier?"

Puu growled lowly from his shoulder.

His master echoed the spirit beast's anger. "You know, I've had just about enough of this guy!"

"Bastard!" Kuwabara yelled, and they all turned just in time to see him race passed the doorway.

"Kuwabara, wait!" Yuusuke let go of Koenma and ran after him.

"Brat!" Genkai heard her smaller feet running after them. "Damn it, they never listen…"

Koenma and Kurama were right behind her, and when they reached the street Sensui was there waiting for them.

Sensui smirked when he saw them. On closer inspection, he seemed even taller than before, with his hair greased back much more immaculately than Yuusuke's own. A much younger man about Yuusuke's age stood behind him, wearing a biker's jacket.

"Koenma. It's been awhile."

Koenma stood near Yuusuke once again. "Shinobu. I wish I could say it was good to see you."

It was probably irrational, but Yuusuke resented somehow that Sensui and Koenma knew each other, and that Sensui had enough power over Koenma to hurt him in a way that Yuusuke thought was obvious. But right now really wasn't the right time to ponder this. "We're not here to be chummy."

"Ah, Urameshi Yuusuke," his adversary said. "So nice to finally meet you."

"Yeah, everyone wants a piece of me. I'm hotter than Brad Pitt."

Sensui smiled, almost charmingly—or it might have been if he didn't look so damn superior. "You know, I had to wait ten years for Koenma to find you. I hope you're worth the wait."

"Uh, okay."

Yuusuke was distracted momentarily by Keiko stumbling upon the scene, on her way back from the store. He quickly motioned for her to hide, not wanting to do more than glance briefly in her direction. There was no way Sensui had missed her or his warning motion, but he didn't want the creepy former Tantei to think she was important. Having Keiko used against him had happened enough times already.

"I want the rest of you to stay back," he said soberly. "Any tips for me, Ko?"

Koenma turned his head enough to speak softly in his ear. "Be unpredictable; Shinobu can memorize an opponent's attack patterns in as few as three moves."

Warm breath against his skin suddenly reminded the teen that he was crushing heavily on his boss. Yuusuke barely repressed a shiver of arousal. "Interesting. Anything else?"

The godling hesitated. "He used to favor kicks primarily, but that could have changed…"

"Right. Stay away from the legs." He stepped forward slowly. "Don't worry, babe, I got this."

This time, the pet name wasn't a slip. Yuusuke was feeling a bit more confident, but then, the god had practically made love to his fucking ear right in front of his sort of girlfriend. It should have made him feel guilty, but it didn't. Not even remotely.

It wasn't that he didn't _care_, Yuusuke decided as he stopped a few paces away from Sensui. He'd always care about Keiko. But everything with her had never felt comfortable, and he never knew for sure whether he was with her because of the kiss of life and Botan's teasing—or if it was because he really wanted to. He always worried about what he did to her, the stress of knowing him and the battles he was drawn into. He had felt far more comfortable with her when they were only best friends.

Whereas with Koenma, in those short weeks that he had spent as a human, things had been far more at ease. Even now, Yuusuke didn't have to force himself to want to spend time with the godling, and Koenma didn't demand anything other than the job, and these days that was with some reluctance. They were as different as he and Keiko were, but instead of making him worry, Yuusuke just felt at peace with those differences with Koenma.

It was like they fit together somehow. Like the craziest jigsaw puzzle ever.

"Now, now," Sensui murmured, smirking. "No cheating, you two." If he noticed the way Yuusuke's attention had wavered, he didn't mention it.

Yuusuke returned his smirk and brought his mind fully to the task at hand. "Afraid of what he'll tell me? Ko's already mentioned that you're a loon. Couldn't hack the job."

"Did he tell you that it was his fault?"

"He mentioned it." Yuusuke circled Sensui and the biker kid. "I don't think it was though."

"Oh?"

He stopped a few feet away. "Yeah. _I _have faith in him."

Maybe Koenma was a god. Maybe he was did things that were cruel sometimes to accomplish what he wanted. But he was still the one who sacrificed his life – his godhood – in order for them to survive the Tournament. Yuusuke had spent weeks with Koenma without their respective titles getting in the way, just being friends.

Maybe Koenma was a god, but he was still a good person.

"How charming," Sensui remarked.

Hearing stories about his powers wasn't going to be enough. Yuusuke had to just go for it, so he did, coming at Sensui with his fastest speed.

He was kicked away without landing a single blow. As he hit the ground some feet away, he numbly remembered the part of Koenma's advice about the legs.

_Yeah, fuck, no kidding._

Trying to keep that in mind, Yuusuke tried again. He came at Sensui from another direction, moving fast and putting his full force behind a second punch.

He was kicked into a sign post, impacting hard. Through the pain, he just hoped he hadn't broken anything as he picked himself back up.

* * *

Still standing nearby with the others, Koenma flinched when Yuusuke impacted the sign post. He had known this would be another painful fight, but to actually see it happening…

"This is the worst type of opponent for Yuusuke," Kurama whispered.

Koenma agreed. "Shinobu thinks too much and Yuusuke thinks too little."

"Top that off with his Reishuuken fighting style and the brat's in over his head," Genkai added.

Koenma wasn't surprised she had properly identified the fighting style. He nodded grimly.

Kuwabara growled, his powerful fists clenched. "Come on, Urameshi! Kick his ass!"

Yuusuke got to his feet slowly once more, Koenma watching with his heart in his throat. The teen's fights were always excruciating to endure; he took the beatings and just kept getting right back up, but Koenma still worried. He had a connection with each of his Tantei, one that had been useful in Shinobu's training, and why he hadn't wanted to train Yuusuke.

Instead of watching them fight, he desperately wished to step between them and stop them.

Yuusuke looked surprised when the older Tantei formed a ball of Reiki in his hand. "Hey, that's…"

Koenma got a strangely weak sensation in his legs when he saw Shinobu form his other customary offense. It was strange since he was no longer human.

"This is my Reikoresshuken," Sensui explained.

"It's like Yuusuke's Rei Gun!" Kuwabara cried.

"No…" Koenma murmured helplessly, because he knew; Sensui planned to cause as much destruction as possible!

Puu flew from his shoulder over to Keiko, knocking into the girl hard and causing her to fall back into her hiding place just as Sensui sent the energy blast toward them. At the same time, Koenma erected a shield around himself and the others.

"It's heading toward Yuusuke's apartment!" he heard Keiko gasp from the pavement.

Drawn by her warning, he noticed she was right. "No!" Koenma gritted his teeth and tried to shield the three they'd left behind in the apartment building.

"Sis! Botan, Mitarai!" Kuwabara ran back toward the apartment.

Then Koenma sensed Sensui move, not even having to see him—that sixth sense that was an echo of the former Tantei connection vibrated around him loud and clear as the tall human changed his opponent. "Kuwabara, look out!" the godling shouted in warning.

Kuwabara dodged just in time and Sensui missed him, his feet sank into the pavement as he landed.

"Damn!" Kuwabara panted, staring.

"Shinobu, stop this!" Koenma yelled, watching helplessly as Yuusuke went at Sensui again, coming to Kuwabara's aid, and getting knocked away like a rag doll. The teen went flying into a department store window, shattering the glass and sending bits of it flying in all direction. Thankfully, Yuusuke didn't look too cut up by the glass when he got up.

He really didn't want to know how often his current Tantei had fallen into broken glass in order to instinctively know how to land on it and keep the damage minimal.

Then Sensui started to run away from the scene. Koenma stared, baffled. _What in the three worlds was Shinobu trying to do?_

Yuusuke cursed. "Ko, Baa-san. Take care of the girls."

Koenma wanted to protest – Yuusuke really couldn't handle this himself, even with Kurama and Kuwabara backing him up – but nodded, swallowing his numerous arguments. There was no time, and he needed to see if anyone back in the apartment had been hurt. He would just have to catch up to his Tantei quickly.

Yuusuke gave him a parting smile, soft and irrationally making Koenma's heart flutter again, before chasing after Sensui. Kurama and Kuwabara followed.

"Come on," Genkai said, sounding just as irritated as he was, "we need to see if everyone's okay."

Puu flew back to Koenma's shoulder. Keiko had disappeared.

Koenma frowned. "Puu, where did she go?"

With one of his floppy ears, Puu pointed with his beak toward the apartment building.

"Perfect," Koenma grumbled and ran to catch up with Genkai.

* * *

Arriving at the apartment building, Genkai was relieved to see it looked intact. "Quick job with that barrier, Koenma."

"I was afraid I wouldn't make it," he confessed, panting softly.

The aged fighter raced upstairs to the apartment, the god on her heels. Once inside, they were shocked to find that in the impact, a bookcase had fallen on top of Botan. Even so, the damage to the apartment was less than she had feared, thanks to the barrier, and Mitarai seemed relatively unharmed, if close to hyperventilating.

"Koenma, help me with this."

Koenma nodded, carefully wedging his fingers under the edge and heaving. Genkai lifted with him and tossed the piece of furniture off to the side.

Once it was done, she pulled the back of Botan's shirt up to assess the damage and begin healing her. "How's the boy?"

"He's fine."

"Why… did she save me?" Mitarai asked, cowering in the corner he was curled up in. "Why do you people do these things? This isn't how he said it was!"

"Shinobu is unwell," Koenma said, soft and withdrawn.

Genkai frowned, but kept her will focused on Botan. She didn't know the story behind it, and didn't care, but Koenma obviously cared about Shinobu.

She just hoped that her stupid apprentice wouldn't get killed because of it.

The terrified teen on the floor continued to shake, his breathing erratic. However Sensui had done it, he'd really done a number on the kid's head.

"I think that's putting it lightly… Shit… Is she going to be okay?"

Genkai was finishing her work. "She'll be fine, the damage isn't anything I couldn't heal. It could have been so much worse."

Indeed, when Botan sat up moments later, she looked as though she'd only been sleeping. She was in no pain, but her blue hair was in disarray. "Oh… Is everyone alright?"

"It looks like it," her boss said.

"I don't remember what happened," Botan confessed.

"You pushed me out of the way," Mitarai told her softly.

Botan beamed. "Oh, that's right! I saw you in danger and just reacted!" She giggled sheepishly.

Genkai shook her head fondly. The shinigami could be very silly sometimes, but she was good people.

Mitarai gaped in disbelief. "Why… Why are you all like this?! This isn't how it's supposed to be!"

Koenma turned to face the boy fully, voice hard. "The Chapter Black tape tells only a one-sided story of humanity. For every person who commits a crime, there is someone who's never gotten even a speeding ticket. For every Hitler there is a Gandhi, and all the spectrums in between."

"You didn't see that tape!" the blond gasped.

"It used to belong to him before Sensui stole it," Genkai informed him mildly.

The teen sniffled pitiably. "What?"

Just then, Puu came flying into the room, and Genkai realized she hadn't even noticed him missing; she had been too focused on getting to Yuusuke's apartment. The small creature had worked himself into a panic over something.

"Puu puu puu!"

Koenma stood, obviously worried. "What is it?"

"Puu!" The animal flew back out. Koenma followed after him, running fast.

Botan blinked at the abrupt departure, still looking a little dazed. Genkai helped her up onto Yuusuke's bed.

"I wonder what that was about," the shinigami murmured.

Genkai shrugged, but she had a bad feeling. She stayed with Botan for the moment, so she could keep an eye on both her and the still freaking Mitarai.

* * *

Puu led the demigod out of the apartment building's side entrance. There laid Shizuru, crumpled on the bottom of the stairs, unconscious.

Koenma bit back a curse and knelt next to the prone woman, gingerly examining her with his hands and senses. She was in a great deal of pain, even unconscious, but she was alive and he sighed in relief. She must have been outside of his impromptu shield when Shinobu's attack hit. He would have felt very guilty if he'd accidentally let one of Yuusuke's friends die.

Forming a small ball of golden energy, he pushed it into Shizuru. He could spare a little power before the coming battle.

Puu nuzzled the woman's cheek worriedly. "Puu…"

Shizuru stirred slowly as his energy healed the damage. "Wha…?"

"Come, let's get you inside," Koenma said, picking her up easily.

Shizuru blinked, then her eyes widened. "Kazuma! That guy—Mitarai said he wants Kazuma to cut through some kind of barrier."

Koenma frowned deeply, and Itsuki's words suddenly came to mind. "Damn. So that's their goal…" This hadn't been about confronting him or Yuusuke-not yet anyway. Shinobu had been after Kuwabara to cut through the kekkai barrier between the worlds!

"I told Keiko to tell the others. You know, before I collapsed."

So that was where Yuusuke's girlfriend had gotten to. "She hasn't returned yet," Koenma said, setting Shizuru down on Yuusuke's bed when they reached the apartment.

Shizuru cursed. "If I hadn't been standing under a falling ceiling…"

Genkai checked the younger woman's wounds, nodding her approval. "Good work, Koenma."

Koenma withheld comment; he wasn't a child and didn't need compliments, though he couldn't help feeling a little pleased at his assistance being acknowledged. He didn't get it often.

Then he watched as Botan went to the bed, petting Shizuru's hair worriedly. "Would you like a cigarette?"

Shizuru nodded. "Yeah."

After searching the human girl's pockets, Botan found her cigarettes and lighter, which Shizuru accepted gratefully and lit up.

It spoke of a great deal of familiarity. He took in these gestures as she informed Genkai about Sensui's plan for Kuwabara and the kekkai barrier.

The old woman was still frowning when Kurama and Keiko came running in, and they discovered what had happened after the group had separated.

"That's why he attacked the apartment," said the fox. "Undoubtedly he knew we'd separate into two groups to check our wounded and chase after him. I think that he wanted to separate you from Yuusuke specifically, Koenma. At least that would be my guess."

Koenma frowned deeply. He'd known it had been wrong the moment Yuusuke said it. He should have argued, should have stayed with the foolish boy… But he couldn't coddle Yuusuke just because he was afraid of losing another Tantei.

Another friend.

No, he was afraid to lose another tentative friend. Koenma had so few of them, and as much as it scared him, he thought their relationship was evolving into at least that much.

"_Where_is my brother?" Shizuru demanded.

"Gone," Kurama informed her somberly. "Sensui set up an ambush and kidnapped him."

"Kazu…" Angrily, the woman crushed her cigarette in her hand before dropping the remains into an empty soda can.

"Yuusuke went after them," Keiko added reassuringly. "I'm sure Kuwabara-san will be fine."

_No,_Koenma did not say out loud. He didn't believe Kuwabara, or any of their boys, would be fine after this.

Genkai stood. "We'll have to find them. This is too much for Yuusuke to handle alone."

"They're in a cave system," Koenma said. "The only entrance is Demon's Door cave."

The old woman looked at him keenly. Real anger flashed in her eyes, and she might have acted on it had she the strength to. As it was, Koenma knew some sort of reckoning with her would come eventually for having not revealed this knowledge sooner.

It wasn't as though Koenma liked himself any better for it. But there was still that part of him that cared deeply for Shinobu, and had greedily not announced his location earlier when he probably should have. Instead, he had likely played right into Shinobu's plans.

"Alright," Yuusuke's teacher sighed. "Then we'd better call Kaito and the others so they can meet us at the train station in Mushiyori. Keiko, Shizuru—the two of you wait here."

"No way," Shizuru growled immediately.

Botan touched her hand. "Please."

She frowned at the shinigami. "That's my baby brother out there."

"Yes. And we're going to get him back."

"And I'm going to _help_," Shizuru told her stubbornly.

Without warning, Botan leaned in and kissed her soundly.

Shizuru gasped into the kiss but didn't push her away.

Koenma quickly looked away from the intensely private moment, and he couldn't help that sharp feeling of bitterness. He hadn't known about them so it came as a harsh surprise.

It had been a long time ago, but the feelings he'd had for Botan had never really faded. His heart just did not work like that. Though the Shinigami hadn't ever returned his feelings, she had always been kind enough to pretend he felt otherwise, and the pain had settled into something bearable over time. A scab that he believed had healed over, only it hadn't.

Like Shinobu.

Puu returned to Koenma's shoulder, emitting a sad noise as he gently nipped Koenma's cheek.

The godling smiled faintly, petting the animal gently. It amazed him how in tune the spirit beast seemed to be, that tiny spark of Yuusuke inside him making his presence welcome.

And then there was Yuusuke, his current Tantei-and friend. He still didn't know what to make of the pretend flirting, especially when done in clear view of his girlfriend, though it seemed she hadn't noticed. The connection with Yuusuke had been changing, maybe even growing, since Koenma's brief time as a human.

Perhaps that was all it was. Perhaps Yuusuke was just confused by that bond. He had never explained it, hadn't thought it important enough to warrant explanation. But his judgment had been wrong before.

If so, then that meant that Yuusuke wasn't _faking_ it, and that he was very confused, mistaking the bond between god and Tantei for something else. It still wasn't real and it still hurt, but it didn't hurt _as much._

Botan convinced Shizuru to remain, with an ease that made Koenma jealous for another reason. It would have been very nice to be able to smoothly talk Yuusuke out of stupid things as easily as that.

Though even if they were lovers, Koenma thought wryly, it would never be easy to convince Yuusuke to do anything. The teen was too stubborn. It was an undignified quality, but Koenma loved him no less for it.

Mitarai surprised them by wanting to go with them, but the godling saw no deseit in the plea. The teen was simply trying to repay the debt he owed to Kuwabara, and Koenma had no reason to object to his presence.

He couldn't care less either way. He just wanted to stop that inevitable fight between Yuusuke and Shinobu.

* * *

TBC.


	9. Chapter 9

To Serve and Protect  
Chapter Nine

* * *

Koenma separated from them at the train station, saying he needed to do something, "in case of the worst." He left presumably to the Reikai, taking Puu with him. Botan seemed just as confused as the rest of them and offered no suggestions for what he could be planning.

They met up with Yana and Kaito in Mushiyori. Kido, still recovering from wounds he had sustained while fighting the Doctor, could not join them.

Kurama was grimly silent as they headed toward the cave. He knew that Koenma was still hiding much from them and he didn't like it. Not just for Yuusuke's sake, who was obviously feeling something for the god beyond friendship, but for all of them. Dealing with Sensui was obviously something very personal to Koenma. It might have been clouding his otherwise good judgment.

He held no hard feelings over nearly choking to death – at least, not much – but Koenma withholding potentially valuable information was highly irritating.

Genkai looked just as irritated as he, though whether it was with Yuusuke or Koenma was unclear. Just as she was suggesting they head into the cave without their leader, however, Kurama caught a familiar scent in the air.

Hiei. It was unmistakable. Kurama turned in that direction and sniffed delicately, also catching a whiff of Yuusuke.

He smiled and relaxed a little. It seemed as though Hiei had come to Yuusuke's rescue after all.

* * *

Yuusuke raised his head and saw the little fire demon let go of his assailant. The biker kid—Sniper—fell to the ground with a thump. Hiei had been willing to let the kid live but Sniper just hadn't been willing to give up. He looked pretty dead now and Yuusuke didn't care enough to give Hiei grief about it. He'd talk to Koenma afterwards, maybe Hiei wouldn't be punished too badly.

It didn't matter right now.

The demonic energy was growing and a mass of dark clouds had collected overhead, casting the bright afternoon into shadow. In the distance, a mass of energy was forming—the gateway to demon world.

Yuusuke knew what demons smelled like, but what he smelled now was so much more than that—like if the dark tournament stadium had been magnified by ten. On a hot summer day. He tried very hard not to gag.

Yuusuke turned back to Hiei. "Knew you'd come to help save my ass."

Hiei glanced at him irritably, as if this whole mess was somehow his fault. That feeling was cemented as they got into a fight—a little more serious than their last friendly tussle, especially when Kuwabara was mentioned, but Yuusuke could tell the fire demon still wasn't trying to kill him. He definitely wanted to kick the teen's ass though and Yuusuke gave as good as he got.

It ended in a draw, and Hiei looked weirdly satisfied. He even laughed. "There. Feeling better? I'm not going to kick your ass again if not."

Panting, Yuusuke was surprised to discover that he did. He'd been feeling out of it since the incident at the hospital, when he thought he killed the doctor. "What? Seriously?"

Hiei looked irritated again, but only mildly, and brought up the dark tournament; when he had been fighting Toguro the Younger and let him think Kuwabara was dead in order to tap into his full strength. "Sensui's not gonna wait for you or give you a helpful nudge like Toguro did," Hiei added. "He just wants you dead."

Yuusuke blinked at him before breaking into an elated grin, nearly pulling the little demon into a hug. "You were worried about me."

Hiei got a little shifty then and looked at everything but Yuusuke.

The teen laughed. Hiei could be adorable, maybe he kind of saw what Kurama loved about him so much. "Seriously! You big softie. You came back to give me a Hiei style pep talk, because you've been rooting for me the whole time. You're so full of it!"

When Hiei's brow started doing that twitchy thing, Yuusuke calmed his laughter, but continued to grin.

See? He could be a good friend too.

"Really, man. Thanks. I was needing that kick in the ass."

Hiei grunted and seemed to recover. He started to walk away.

"Where're you going?" Yuusuke asked his retreating back. "This was great and all, but we could still use your help. Kuwabara could really use your help."

"But I hate Kuwabara," Hiei spoke, but he stopped walking away.

"No, you don't." Yuusuke suddenly remembered his earlier conversation with Kurama. "Besides, I heard something interesting not long ago. About an old cassette tape that has all of humanity's dirtiest deeds on it."

Hiei straightened a little and Yuusuke knew he had the fire demon's attention.

"Sensui's got the Chapter Black Tape," Yuusuke told him. "I could make sure you got it when this is done."

Hiei turned back to him slowly, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Koenma would never let you have it."

"Koenma's got way more on his mind right now than that stupid tape," he answered, knowing it was bad because it was true. He hated the hold Sensui had on Koenma, but damn, he really needed his irritable friend on this. "You can slip out with it before the dust settles. And if not, I'll distract Koenma for you." It was bad that his mind immediately supplied all sorts of ways he could keep the godling distracted. "Trust me."

The fire demon smirked faintly. "You have, on occasion, done something approaching cleverness."

"Bitch."

Their negotiations were interrupted at the approach of two lesser demons. They were huge, ugly, and _smelly_. They dispatched them easily, like swatting overgrown, warty flies, and it seemed to help nudge Hiei along in this decision.

He agreed to help, saying, "As much as I hate humans, I loath tourists even more."

Yuusuke snorted and they moved quickly to where they could see the gathering power. Hiei could have gone ahead of him, but instead the fire demon kept pace with him, for which Yuusuke was grateful. There could be another ambush waiting for him in the trees and he didn't want to waste anymore time.

He could tell Koenma was no longer in the human world, the pain of separation gnawing at him as irritatingly as his worry for Kuwabara.

"Hey, Hiei," he said, breaking the silence. "Can I ask you extremely personal and weird questions?"

"You can ask," Hiei sneered. "Whether I answer or not, or whether I let you live for it, waits to be seen."

"I think I'm in love with Koenma," he blurted out, before he lost his nerve. It felt strange to admit it out loud, like a weight was lifted.

Hiei was obviously surprised. "Uh. Okay. What about the girl?"

"I dunno, it's weird. I still care about her a lot. She was my first friend ever." Yuusuke blushed as they ran, because he never had to explain this to anyone before. "When no one else could stand me, she was there. Yelling at me, complaining, because she cared. And I never treated her right, always took her for granted. But ever since I died and she had to wake me up with a kiss, it's felt really weird. Hell, it could just as easily have been Kuwabara's kiss that saved me, and it would have been just as weird."

Hiei was not irritated. He looked surprisingly thoughtful. "I don't know a lot about relationships. Love or otherwise. But Kurama said once that many demons believe that while everyone has many potential mates in their lives, there is only one that is truly their other half. Demons that believe this often only mate once. If something happens to their mate, that's it. They're celibate, and mourning, forever."

Yuusuke could tell there was much more to that long monologue—definitely long for Hiei—but he didn't want to pry. "How do they tell?"

Hiei shrugged. "Who knows? I guess they just know. Like instinct."

The teen thought about that, then added, "I think I felt more comfortable with Keiko when we were friends."

"And the midget god?"

Yuusuke ignored the insult. He blushed as he thought about his feelings for Koenma. "I think I'm way more comfortable with him than I should be. In every way."

Hiei smirked widely, and Yuusuke knew there was blackmail in his future. "If you want to mate with him instead of the girl, then do it. If you're worried about the girl's happiness, then you give yourself too much credit. She's tough."

Yuusuke managed a weak grin. He still felt guilty, regardless. "I know she's tough. But this… I don't think it's like demons. None of us are demons, for one thing."

"It'd be easier if you were. Besides, you sometimes act like one."

"Seriously?"

"Not like those weak and ugly ones back there. Sometimes, you're like Kurama and I."

Yuusuke grinned. "Love you too, Hiei."

Hiei sputtered and went for his katana. Yuusuke laughed and ran faster. They still had a friend to save and an apocalypse to stop, but talking to Hiei had helped.

* * *

They caught up with the others a few minutes later, at the mouth of a huge, creepy cave. The stench was fouler there, so even without his other senses telling him so, he knew this was the place.

"You look better," Genkai said in greeting.

Yuusuke felt a little sheepish. He hadn't known he was so obvious. "Yeah, well – nothing like a good fight between friends to cheer you up."

He knew he couldn't hold back anymore. Despite his opponent being a human, or a friend of Koenma's, he had to give it his all.

The fire demon in question snorted softly, glancing at Kurama through his bangs. "He was playing tag with a truck full of fossil fuel," he grumbled. "Someone needed to knock some sense into him.

Yuusuke rolled his eyes. "So, Koenma go back to the Reikai?"

He noticed as Hiei shifted subtly closer to Kurama, and the redhead brushed a hand against his small lover's lower back. They tried to hide it, and that made Yuusuke think the PDA was even more adorable.

Kurama answered his quarry. "I believe so. He said he had something to do. He was pretty vague about what that could be, however, only that it would help."

Yuusuke frowned. "He thinks we're gonna need help?"

The fox touched Yuusuke's shoulder, smiling. "Koenma's thorough, Yuusuke; more so than he likes us to believe sometimes. He promised to meet up with us later."

"Yeah, I just hope he doesn't miss the whole fight."

Hiei rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, lover boy, he won't miss your _grand _victory."

Yuusuke gave him an annoyed glare. He hadn't talked to Hiei just so the little demon could blab about his crush to the whole group. Luckily, no one seemed to take it seriously.

"Enough," Genkai sighed. "We're splitting into two groups. Our first wave will consist of Yuusuke, Hiei, and Kurama. Mitarai could go along with you to show the way. If something happens, the rest of us will follow."

"Don't trust me, Grandma?" her student asked, hands on his hips.

Mitarai blushed. "I don't mind showing the way. I want to help Kuwabara-san."

"We would be honored to have you," Kurama told him politely.

The blond smiled shyly and Yuusuke marveled at the change. Back at the apartment, the kid had seemed pretty overwhelmed with all this, but now he seemed halfway confident. It suited him more than the quivering and sniffling.

They walked into the cave together. Yuusuke tried to push thoughts of Koenma to the back of his mind, but he had to wonder what the godling was up to.

Once he was back home in the Reikai palace, Koenma reverted back to his infant form and steeled himself in order to face his father. This was never an easy task, though he had to do it on occasion, and being in his natural form tended to make the other god underestimate him.

This time it was different however—he was not a pawn of his father's any longer. He had something important to do here. He had to do it, no matter how much he feared and hated his father, because Yuusuke needed him to. Whether the teen realized that or not.

This time was also different because a little phoenix was with him. Puu rode on the top of his round hat, warm and protective, and he gave Koenma confidence as he walked into Enma's chamber. He was so very grateful for Puu being there, though the little phoenix could do nothing against the higher god. It was just having part of Yuusuke's reckless presence with him that helped.

George followed behind them, silent and obviously afraid. Koenma offered to let him wait outside, but the oni was resolute in staying by his side. He was grateful for this loyalty as well.

The chamber was so large, it easily dwarfed them all. Yet the lord of the dead filled that large space quite easily. Like a king or shogun, he sat upon a thrown placed on a dais, and a sheer screen separated him from his guests. Enma was a bearded, stern-faced man, with a round midsection and an overpowering spiritual energy. He knew if Yuusuke were actually there with him, the human teen would have been forced to his knees just from the god's energy alone.

Enma wasted no time with greetings or other pleasantries, which would have been false anyway. "Why have you come, Koenma?"

Koenma kept his eyes on the ground, knowing that he'd start glaring if he didn't. There was no love lost between father and son. "I've come to ask permission, should the need arise, to take drastic action to stop Sensui Shinobu."

Enma's expression was unchanging. "Drastic how?"

"The Mafuukan," Koenma replied shortly.

"I see." The full god's tone held disbelief. "So the situation is that dire?"

"It may become so."

"You know this will leave your reserves drastically depleted," Enma reminded him. It was not concern.

"I know," Koenma said, "but I believe I can safely contain it without causing undue harm to our future plans."

"Very well. You have permission."

Getting what he came for, Koenma exited the large chamber quickly, taking care not to drop Puu along the way.

George followed him out, relieved to leave. "Phew! That was scary, wasn't it?"

"George, look after things while I'm gone," Koenma ordered, switching back to his adult form. It had been necessary to appear to his father as harmless as possible in order to get his permission, but his adult body was more suitable for what was going to come. "If the worst happens, look out for the girls, and get word to Tatsumi. He'll know what to do."

The oni nearly tripped over his large feet in surprise. "But… why? You're coming back, aren't you? If things are really that bad, I should come with you!"

"No, George. Someone needs to be here, just in case." His concern was touching though.

George sniffed. "A-alright, sir. Good luck."

The godling strode out of the palace purposefully, Puu flying after him.

He could do this. He _had_ to do this.

* * *

After Genkai had taken the last of their team inside, Botan waited outside Demon's Door Cave, moping over being left behind. Being left out was never a nice feeling, and she could be just as good a gamer as any boy. Or Genkai. It wasn't fair.

As the sky began to clear, her mood brightened considerably, and hope stirred in her breast.

"Wow, has the tunnel been stopped already? Great job, guys!"

Koenma appeared, surprising her with the lack of warning. "No, unfortunately. The tunnel is still there and growing more rapidly than ever."

"Oh dear," the girl murmured worriedly.

"The tunnel should be fully open in a little less than two hours," Koenma told her, having gotten the recent progress report while he was still in the Reikai.

"Two hours?" Botan balked. "There's so little time left…" She worried about the boys, and not only if they'd be able to close the tunnel in time. She feared for their lives.

Koenma nodded. "Botan, if there's an earthquake in two hours get back to the Reikai."

"An earthquake, gotcha. What are you going to do, Koenma-sama?" she asked curiously.

"I'm going to help the others," her boss said.

Botan frowned worriedly. "Take care of yourself – and Yuusuke."

"I will."

* * *

Puu continued to ride on Koenma's shoulder as they entered the cave. On the floor, Kurama had left small bulbs that glowed, illuminating the path. He followed them and his own senses, remembering the long, winding path from earlier.

Along the way, he met up with Genkai, Kaito, and Yana. In Genkai's arms was a small child. The child was pale and still in a way that was all too familiar.

"What happened?" Koenma asked, eyes on the motionless figure.

"This is Amanuma," Genkai explained. "He was one of Sensui's lackeys, and the only way we could defeat him was to follow the rules of his Territory. It was a video game setting. In the end, it was his role to die if we won…" She trailed off, looking down at the child, some of her regret showing.

Koenma felt his chest tighten a little. _Shinobu… _"Set him on the ground, please."

The old woman did so, frowning. "Step back, kiddos. Give the man some room."

Removing his pacifier, his mouth feeling strange again without the familiar object inside, Koenma knelt in front of the small body. "Lost soul, now retrieve," he intoned.

Amanuma was enveloped by the golden light emanating from the Mafuukan. His heartbeat started again, the sound resonating in the godling's ears, and Koenma sighed softly. He knew he had just done what Sensui had likely planned for him to do all along. Even so, he could not simply let a child pay for his mistakes.

It was bad enough that Yuusuke had to.

Koenma stepped back, allowing Genkai to take the now-sleeping boy once more.

"It might have been better if you hadn't done that," she noted.

"Better for whom is the question."

"Very well. Take care of Yuusuke," she said with a resigned sigh. "I'm depending on you."

"I will." He would have protected Yuusuke even without people asking him to. This shouldn't have to be the boy's fight – it was _his _mistake that had lead them here.

Genkai and her students continued on toward the exit of the cave. Koenma hurried in the other direction, further down the dark tunnels.

Eventually Kurama's plants disappeared, forcing Koenma to find the way with his senses and memory alone. Fortunately—or rather unfortunately in this case, it was not that difficult to trace the power that the tunnel was discharging, nor was it hard to feel Yuusuke and Shinobu.

It didn't seem difficult for Puu either. The bird shivered and pressed closer to his neck.

Taking this as a bad sign, Koenma quickened his steps. As he drew closer to the fight, he heard Yuusuke screaming in pain. Heart pounding faster, he ran as fast as he could, until he finally came upon the scene.

The cavern was like it had been before, except Itsuki was not sitting in front of the portal, there were more demons there trying to get out, and a forgotten television was playing a movie nearby. Off to the side were his two Tantei, and his breath caught in his throat.

Sensui stood over the teen, and Yuusuke was bleeding from a bullet wound. One of Sensui's hands had changed shape, taking the appearance of a gun with a long barrel. Even from this distance, he could tell that Sensui felt different. It chilled Koenma.

The current Sensui was not Shinobu, but one of the other personalities.

He noted all this quickly, and reached out for the fragmented bond he shared with Sensui, pulling as his former friend prepared to deliver the killing blow. It hurt, as if Shinobu hated him so much the bond was rejecting his touch.

"Shinobu!"

Sensui looked up at him in surprise. "Koenma…?"

And more surprisingly was Yuusuke's reaction. The godling saw as he turned toward him the same moment Sensui did, as if he too felt the tug. "Koenma…"

Koenma stared at him, sympathy and guilt churning in his gut for the obvious pain Yuusuke was in, but he was also confused. Had Yuusuke really felt the tug on his bond with Shinobu? If so, how? It was true that he had a bond with Yuusuke, one that had been growing, but there shouldn't have been a reason he felt it.

* * *

He felt Koenma there before he shouted Sensui's name. A weird, pained thought entered his mind unexpectedly. If the last thing he saw was Koenma, he would have fewer regrets.

Then Yuusuke became furious with himself for even thinking like that in the first place. _He could not give up now. _Koenma and Kuwabara still needed him to beat this bitch somehow.

"Shinobu, stop this," Koenma pleaded. The sadness he had seen before was back in full force, no longer veiled by the god's control. It hurt to see it almost as much as the fucking bullet wound did—which, _holy shit_, were those _real _bullets?

Sensui had an unnatural, mocking expression on his face. "Stop? I'm just getting started."

"This is madness and you know it. Using people like chess pieces, putting Itsuki's life at risk…"

"Shut up!" Kazuya pressed the gun against Yuusuke's chin and looked down, but he was too late. Yuusuke had already gathered his will in order to form one more Rei Gun blast.

Unfortunately, Sensui knocked it away before it could hit him. It went wide and shook the entire cave with the force of Yuusuke's strength.

Yuusuke fell, cursing. Koenma distracting him had been brilliant, but Sensui's reaction time was much greater than his own.

"Very impressive for a nearly dead man," the Kazuya personality commented.

Yuusuke tried to raise his head. He hurt _everywhere_, especially the gunshot wounds, and his limbs shook with the effort. "Put an extra large amount into it too… Had this whole mental picture of your brains splattered on the floor. Nn…" He fell back against the hard ground, energy spent for the moment, but everything continued to hurt.

Of course, that meant he was still alive, and that was probably a good thing.

"Stop!" Koenma strode forward, getting closer to the fighters. "Let me talk to Shinobu."

Kazuya glared at him with pure hatred in his eyes. "No, I'm out here now. Shinobu doesn't wanna talk to you."

Koenma removed his pacifier without flourish, holding it tightly. Yuusuke could see his knuckles were white. "You should know what I'm capable of. Let me speak to Shinobu, _now_!"

"It's too late," Sensui said with a smirk, laughing. "Look at the tunnel. It's reached the equilibrium point. There's no going back now."

"There is always a way to undo what has been done."

"Shinobu doesn't want to. He hates humanity, and he hates you even more!"

Koenma flinched visibly. "I know. What happened was my fault and I should be the one to pay for it."

Kazuya sneered. "You're damn right it's your fault, prince of fools. And you _will _pay for it – when I kill this boy and his friends, then the rest of the world."

"I can't let you do that."

The Mafukan started to glow, but Kazuya didn't seem all that intimidated. "Heh. I know you can't use that thing on me. If you use it now, you won't be able to save humanity in a few hundred years! That destined apocalypse your daddy has you getting ready for."

"Priorities, Shinobu. If you continue on this path there will be no one left to save."

Kazuya looked mildly thoughtful. "You're serious, huh?"

"I am."

"Then you'd better try it. All seven of us agree to move forward anyway."

Yuusuke nearly bit off his own damn tongue as he tried once again to move. This was not happening. Koenma was _not _fighting his fight for him.

_This was his job._

Koenma nodded. "So be it." He couldn't let Shinobu do this. He had to protect humanity. No one else would suffer for his mistakes.

The godling knew he couldn't stop Sensui, but he could trap him with the power of the Mafukan. In order to accomplish this, Koenma would be trapped as well, a sacrifice to hold the barrier closed, but it was no great hardship. He deserved it more than his rogue Tantei did.

He didn't want anymore regrets.

Kazuya smirked and raised his gun. Koenma prepared himself, gathering his energy and will into the pacifier.

Then, against all odds, Yuusuke surged to his feet, standing in front of Koenma. He was panting and shaking, in obvious pain from the effort, but he was standing again. This feat not enough, the teen surged forward, and closed the distance between them. Koenma didn't even think to move away.

"Yuusuke, what…?"

With one hand he clutched the back of the god's neck, holding him by the waist with the other. He pressed their bodies flush together, with no restraint or disgust, and leaned up, pressing his mouth to Koenma's.

Koenma gasped, startled by the kiss and unable to move. Yuusuke kissed him firmly, like he meant it, a warm tongue sliding across his lips. It was clumsy, but decidedly enthusiastic, and if he had any doubts that Yuusuke was delirious or not, the teen even moaned his name. It was a little muffled against their lips, but he heard it clearly in the sudden quiet of the cave.

Yuusuke slowly slid the hand on his neck down to his shoulder, then his bicep.

The movement started to bring Koenma back to reality and he tried to pull away. What in the world was Yuusuke _doing_? He had never been kissed like this before, not with so much feeling behind it, and certainly never by anyone he had feelings for.

But the arm around his waist tightened, keeping him close. Dizzy with sensation, Koenma gripped the teen's shoulders and held on as Yuusuke explored his mouth with his tongue. Cautiously, the godling responded. Remaining rational thought was nearly gone from that point onward.

Yuusuke moaned softly and traced the line of Koenma's arm, up to his hand that still held the glowing pacifier. The godling tried again to pull away, or at least just his arm, but Yuusuke snagged the pacifier first with nimble, quick fingers.

He stared, panting, face burning, and aroused as Yuusuke stuffed the pacifier down his pants.

At last, Koenma managed to push the teen away. "Yuusuke! That was why you—?" He cut himself off and pushed the hurt down furiously, knowing he would give into it later. Now was not the time. He had to get the mafukan back.

Yuusuke was also flushed and panting, his arousal visible in his tight jeans, which made Koenma feel warmer. Even if it had been a ploy to get the mafukan, the kissing had had an affect on Yuusuke nevertheless.

It didn't really help him feel any better, though. Yuusuke was just a teenager after all.

He dimly heard Kuwabara start to yell and realized he had missed Yuusuke's friends. Koenma focused and sensed the kidnapped teen, Hiei, Kurama, and Mitarai inside the demon Itsuki controlled, in another dimension. They had watched the whole thing. Certainly Yuusuke realized that, given that that was why Kuwabara was yelling.

"Oh shut up, Kuwabara. Bitch at me later." Yuusuke's blush lessened, and he seemed surprisingly unapologetic about the kiss. He didn't even take his brown eyes from Koenma's. "Ko, this is my fight and I'm not letting you make some sacrifice again because I messed up."

For a moment, Koenma had to resist petulantly stomping his foot. "It's not your mistake, Yuusuke, it's mine! Give me back the Mafukan, _now,_ before it's too late."

Yuusuke folded his arms over his chest. "No. You'll have to come and get it. And since they're actually in my briefs right now, that might be a little awkward. Otherwise, I'll give it back to you later, while we're celebrating my victory with some beer and a Buffy marathon."

The godling glared. "Yuusuke…"

"No! You're planning to go down with him," he waved at Sensui, who continued watching them, "just like before with Sakyo, and I'm _not_ going to lose you!"

"You're the most stubbornly annoying person I've ever met," Koenma growled.

"You like that about me!" Yuusuke shot back just as angrily.

Koenma glared at the teen. Honestly, he was not certain what his feelings were at the moment, but his body still thrummed with desire from the kiss.

Yuusuke took a deep breath. "I… I don't know what happened between you two, and it pisses me off, but I—I care about you. Okay? It's more than just feeling responsible because of what happened at the tournament. That's what started it maybe. But it's more now. And I'm _not losing you."_

"So you intend to get yourself killed instead?" Koenma demanded acidly, because Yuusuke's words both helped and hurt. It was more than he had ever expected, but right now was really _not the time._

"I'm not thinking that far ahead," Yuusuke confessed. "I just wanna kick this fucker's ass. I don't even care about the fucking tunnel right now!"

Sensui laughed.

Yuusuke turned on him then, glaring. "Yeah, laugh it up. While you're at it, switch with one of the others!"

The older Tantei sobered. "Like I told the baby prince, they don't wanna talk to you."

"I don't think you understand," Yuusuke said, with a sinister tone Koenma had never heard him use before. It was chilling.

"See, you're not strong enough for me now. So bring out one of the others. Bring out your strongest one. Unless you're all scared…"

"Why, you…" Insulted, Kazuya started to glow with power.

But the teen was there in a flash and pounded him into the ground, much more powerful than before. Sensui went down underneath Yuusuke's fists.

Koenma stared, his jaw dropping. Yuusuke had barely been able to stand under his own power, but since the kiss, Yuusuke was practically vibrating with renewed strength. The bleeding had stopped and various other wounds on his body were showing signs of healing. Since the kiss—_the kiss!_

He touched his lips, which were still tingling, the phantom sensation of Yuusuke's mouth on his. There—the sign of a power exchange. Yuusuke hadn't stolen energy; Koenma had given it willingly and he hadn't even realized it.

_Yuusuke._

Yuusuke held his arm, waiting for Sensui to rise. "Shit… Don't even think that this hurts, I'm just humoring you, asshole."

Koenma almost went to him in concern, but movement on the ground stopped him, and he gasped, pressing a hand to his chest subconsciously, above his heart.

He knew this sensation.

The air in the room seemed to change even before Sensui stood up. When he did, the tall man's movements were elegant and his smile was soft, completely different from earlier.

Koenma's heart ached. This was the real Sensui Shinobu.

Yuusuke grimaced. "So you're the mastermind, huh?"

Sensui smiled almost kindly. "Oh no. I would never have gotten anywhere if not for my others."

The teen blinked, then smirked. "Hey, I guess I can appreciate that. I can't make it anywhere without the bozos you're boyfriend's got up in the shadowy face thing. Or Ko." The teen's expression hardened again, quickly. "So, we gonna do this or what?"

Yet Sensui held out his hand. "Sensui Shinobu. You must be Urameshi Yuusuke."

Yuusuke, being Yuusuke, eyed the hand suspiciously before swinging. He cried out as Sensui easily gripped his arm and twisted him around.

Koenma winced and took a step forward, intending to break them up.

"Stay there, Koenma." Sensui said smoothly, the command stopping the god. He easily forced the boy to his knees, taking his hand with a smile. "It's nice to finally meet you," the man said, shaking his hand.

The godling bit his lip, taking in Yuusuke's obvious pain. All that, just for a polite handshake. It was still so Shinobu, but the force and cruelty contained a new, sharper edge that had not been there before.

_His fault, all his fault._

"Shinobu, stop it. He's not ready for this."

"Don't be so hard on him, Koenma," said the man, looking up. "My replacement sure is interesting."

The god stared at his former friend for a moment, seeing the changes fully. It broke Koenma's heart further as he saw the cracks around Shinobu's psyche, improperly repaired by the creation of multiple personalities like bones that had been reset crooked. Each time it had happened, every conflict to his morality, a little more of the real Shinobu was lost or confused. He was so lost and so broken and Koenma could never fix it.

He had never thought it would be so bad, not even after talking to Itsuki.

_All his fault._

"Shinobu is dead," Koenma murmured, "long live Sensui Shinobu."

Yuusuke struggled against Sensui's hold. "Koenma, get outta here," he gasped.

His Tantei's words brought Koenma back from his brooding thoughts and he straightened his shoulders. "No."

Sensui made an interested noise, casually tossing Yuusuke aside like a rag doll, making the god wince again. "Are you going to protect your protector, Koenma?"

He nodded. "As I would have protected you if you'd ever cared to ask."

Yuusuke sat up slowly. "Ko, I can take him, damn it!"

Koenma would have responded, probably with the anger he had barely suppressed earlier, when Sensui started laughing, then glowing. The cave began crumbling around them.

The energy permeating the room was neither Reiki nor Youki.

Koenma was surprised. "But it's impossible for you to have mastered the training necessary in less than ten years!"

"I have certain innate talents that make it possible. Unlike Yuusuke, for instance, who can never reach this level because he just doesn't have it. Like his master. I've got him beat in both quality and quantity."

He laughed again and the power increased even more, energy thick in the air. When Yuusuke rushed to attack, regardless of the warning, Shinobu grabbed his arms after a few unsuccessful hits. "Hey. Enough now."

Then Sensui snapped his arm like a twig, the bone snapping with a sharp, sickly sound. The teen screamed in pain.

Not pausing, Koenma watched in horror as Sensui reached for Yuusuke's zipper, intending to get the pacifier – but instead he got a face full of the boy's shoe as Yuusuke kicked it at him.

Yuusuke smirked grimly through the pain. "Sorry, you're just not my type, buddy."

Sensui really was not amused. "You don't want to die yet, hm?" He felt his nose to see if the shoe had broken it.

Koenma crept closer and Yuusuke growled at him to stay back.

He ignored his current Tantei. "Shinobu, listen to me, please."

"Shut up, Ko! Just… Let me keep going," Yuusuke pleaded in a soft, sober tone. "Let me keep going."

Koenma frowned, returning his attention to Yuusuke. He was still irritated from the earlier kiss, but Yuusuke was far too beaten up for him to be too angry with. The teen was just trying to keep going. "What on earth are you thinking, Yuusuke?"

Yuusuke offered him that same grim smile. "I'm really close to something. Just a little longer now, but I know it. We'll definitely win." He looked at Sensui. "You'd better be afraid and kill me now, 'cause something incredible is about to happen. Or don't you have the balls?"

Shinobu did not look impressed by the taunt or the cursing, while Kuwabara cheered from where he and the others watched.

As though to intimidate them all further, Sensui allowed his powers to flare, disturbing the cave around them. Koenma winced and was afraid the cave would collapse around them from the sheer weight of it. Nearby, Yuusuke teetered on his feet, still favoring his broken arm.

"Oh, pardon me," said Sensui. "I've been containing my true strength for so long that it's such a strain. I could destroy the entire world easily."

"Then why don't you?" Yuusuke asked, annoyed.

The man frowned. "Foolish boy. I don't want to destroy the entire world, just all humans!" he bellowed.

Another shock wave sent both Yuusuke and Koenma against the cave wall, impacting enough to make a crater. He instinctively tried to cushion Yuusuke's impact, not his own, but such a thing wouldn't break his back. He was a god and Yuusuke was human.

Koenma whimpered softly. "You and your big mouth, Yuusuke…"

Yuusuke groaned as he slide down to the ground. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Slowly, Koenma forced himself to his feet. "There's still a chance. Give me back my Mafukan."

The teen frowned and stood as well, though his knees shook a lot more. "You plan to go down with him. I can tell."

Koenma did not try to deny it. "We have no other choice."

"No!"

"Yuusuke!" Koenma yelled back commandingly. "Just give it back!"

Yuusuke glared furiously. "No. Because you and me are gonna get outta this. I have things I need to tell you."

"Don't be stupid! Forget your pride and just give it back!"

"Yeah, well, people go stupid when they're in love!" Yuusuke shouted at him angrily, voice breaking a little on the declaration.

Koenma blinked, his anger draining away again in surprise. Yuusuke could not possibly mean that, he thought dizzily, he had to mean Keiko—_he wanted to save Keiko_—it was their minute bond confusing him—

Yuusuke blushed, his eyes focused on him earnestly, in a way that broke his heart again. "I love you, Koenma." He smiled a little, like relief, a brief flare of happiness despite what was happening around them. "There, I said it. Not gonna deny it's weird as hell and that I'm not still a little conflicted because of Keiko, but it's real. We can hash it out later, but I'm not lying, and I didn't kiss you just to get the pacifier. I meant it."

Heart pounding fast, Koenma tentatively touched the small bond he had with Yuusuke, and saw it was not so small anymore. It had grown so much more than he realized, without training the teen, out of love. The bond had not created those feelings—those feelings had allowed the bond Koenma had tried to deny to get stronger.

Koenma stared at Yuusuke. It was… real. The teen's feelings were _real?_

This could not be happening. Not_ right now._

Yuusuke shifted nervously, tentatively touching his wrist. "Er, so… Don't go dying, okay? Because maybe we could make a go of it? I suck at the whole boyfriend thing, you probably know that, but… I promise to give it a shot. You'd be worth it, to me."

Koenma was lightly flushed at the terribly sincere look on Yuusuke's face. The teen looked directly into his eyes, and his jaw was set determinately.

How could this possibly be real? Koenma never got what he wanted, not ever. That wasn't how the universe worked.

"As amusing as this is," Sensui interrupted at last, "I think it's time we finished things."

Yuusuke smirked. "Yeah, let's do this."

Koenma watched, still dealing with his surprise and confusion as the fight continued. The gap between them was still obvious and though Yuusuke tried, he could not adjust to Shinobu's natural strength and speed.

There was a viciousness there that hadn't been before, too. As if something about their conversation had made Shinobu incredibly angry. But what?

Unless it was because Shinobu hated Koenma so much, he was insulted that anyone dared to try to make him happy.

"Shinobu, stop it!" Koenma yelled, coming to the same conclusion.

Sensui eyed him coldly. "You're going to try to stop me, without your pacifier? Or do you want me to stop so you can take it off of Yuusuke yourself?"

Koenma winced faintly at the suggestion. "Please, Shinobu. Don't punish him for something I did, I beg of you."

"We're no longer friends, Koenma. You have no right to ask favors."

"That was your choice, not mine," Koenma pointed out. Perhaps it was his fault for Shinobu's fall, but it was not his fault what direction he took after that. "And Itsuki would never forgive me if I hurt you without giving you a chance to back out first."

Sensui waved an imperious hand. "Duly noted."

"Koenma, stop," Yuusuke grunted weakly.

Koenma ignored him. "Move, Shinobu."

"You're going to have to make me," Sensui said.

"So be it." The godling lifted his hand, firing his own Spirit Gun at Sensui's chest without warning.

* * *

TBC.


	10. Chapter 10

To Serve and Protect

Chapter Ten

* * *

The blast of golden light emitting from the godling's finger soared through the air to its target. Yuusuke watched it happen, awed and shocked by the sight. He distantly remembered that it was Koenma who had taught him the move, back in the very beginning. It made sense that Koenma could do it too, but it still surprised him.

Sensui was caught off guard and stumbled back as he was struck. Yuusuke watched with bated breath. He would think, much later, that he would not have minded so much if Koenma, in this moment, was the one who defeated Sensui-exactly like this.

His heart sank as the older man slowly lifted his head and smirked, unaffected.

"Sorry. You're going to have to do better than that."

He threw his own version of the energy blast right back at Koenma. Koenma shielded himself in time, letting the attack bounce off. The bright purple energy blast collided with the cave wall instead, causing everything around them to shake. Yuusuke eyed the stalactites apprehensively as Koenma readied another Rei Gun blast.

They didn't have a lot of time to mess around like this, and it looked like the prince and former Tantei could keep exchanging fire like this until the cave collapsed around them. Not a bad plan, it might stop the tunnel from opening, but there was no guarantee Koenma and the others would get out alive.

Before Koenma could shoot his second Rei Gun, Yuusuke was in front of Sensui, and resuming the fight, his fists moving fast. He had a third wind, but it was weaker than before. He wasn't going to last long, not with the way Sensui was fighting. His muscles were shaking and his wounds were throbbing; the arm Sensui had nearly snapped was difficult to move.

It looked like Kurama wasn't going to be the only one with regrets today.

"I was right," said the teen with a grim smirk, between blows and panting for breath. "Soon something incredible is going to happen…"

There was no more time. The tunnel was opening, he was using his remaining reserves, and he could not allow Koenma to sacrifice himself. Though he could keep up with Sensui for now, blocking his blows and returning a few of his own, it would not last long. Yuusuke could sense that the older Tantei had shed the last of his hesitation.

Yuusuke would have to gamble on his friends. He just hoped it would be enough.

He only wished he'd gotten to kiss Koenma more than once. It sucked, but he was going to have to break that promise about both of them getting out of here.

* * *

Still inside the Ura-Otoke, Kuwabara watched as Yuusuke's strength failed him. Yuusuke was the strongest person he'd ever met, not just physically, and he meant more to Kuwabara than he could ever hope to describe. They had been through so much together and had grown grudgingly closer.

He knew he was watching Yuusuke die, unless he could get the Jigen-to to work.

"Hold on, Yuusuke," he plead through gritted teeth. "Just a little longer. So please…"

* * *

Koenma watched, tense and anxious, as Yuusuke could not keep up with Sensui's movements any longer and wavered. His entire being cried out against it, but his body could not move. Even if Yuusuke wasn't in the way, it wouldn't do much good to shoot another Rei Gun blast at his former Tantei. He was drained. Even if he got the pacifier back…

The child. If he hadn't resurrected the child-but of course he had no other choice but to do it, despite it playing right into Sensui's plan. The boy shouldn't have had to pay for Koenma's mistakes. None of them should have.

"It's time to finish this, at last," Sensui said, sounding almost disappointed. He moved in for the kill.

"No…" Koenma whispered helplessly.

Kuwabara broke through the barrier, releasing himself and the others, and Itsuki let them go, appearing near Shinobu. But it was too late.

He saw it happen as though in slow motion and fell to his knees, the loss of Yuusuke's life energy hitting him like a physical blow. An indescribable hole was left in its wake along the tentative Prince-Tantei bond they shared, and his pain was immeasurable. Tears fell, but he did not care to hide them. He did not care about anything at all, in that moment. Yuusuke was dead.

He was dead and the world felt darker for the loss.

Puu, who had been perched on a pillar, fell to the ground near him. Blinking through his tears, Koenma reached out, hands shaking hands, to gather the little chick close. Puu was already cold. Their connection was so strong and complex, when Yuusuke had died, the little phoenix had died as well.

He didn't pay much attention to what happened after that, only noticing what was happening in the periphery of his senses. In their anger and grief, he felt Yuusuke's friends grow in strength, the boy's loss pushing them passed all previous limits. Shinobu fled to the Makai and Itsuki disappeared entirely to parts unknown. Soon, Koenma was alone with a dead Tantei, a dead phoenix, and a very confused Mitarai.

He hunched over the cold form of the bird in his arms and wept tears he know he didn't deserve to shed.

It was all his fault. He should have just taken the pacifier back from Yuusuke. He should have made Yuusuke stay back.

He should have saved his friends.

He should have done a lot of things.

* * *

It was some time before Koenma stirred again. If Mitarai hadn't finally spoken up, he was not sure how long he would have stayed that way. Possibly if the others returned, or maybe never. He certainly felt like staying exactly where he was, unmoving, for all eternity. A silent guardian standing guard over Yuusuke's body, gathering dust. Lamenting forgotten hopes and dreams.

"Are you alright, Koenma-san?"

The blond teen was terribly shy. He spoke as if he expected to be punished for the act alone; the bullying he had suffered was that ingrained.

"I'm alright," the god responded softly. Though the pain threatened to undo him completely, he forced through the agony and slowly regained focus.

There were still things that needed to be done. His personal pain meant nothing in the grand scheme of things; the world just kept on turning regardless. It hurt, he could barely breathe, but he knew the truth. Nothing stopped just because he was in mourning.

Mitarai touched his shoulder uncertainly. It was strange being touched by someone who he had no connection with, but Koenma didn't brush him off.

"I'm sorry. This is so terrible…"

"War is always terrible." Finally moving, Koenma stumbled to his feet, still cradling Puu close. He walked to Yuusuke's body, a worried Mitarai close behind.

As hard as it was not feeling Yuusuke, seeing his pale and bloodied form on the ground was just as bad. It was superficial, he knew. As long as he had dealt with the souls of the dead, he realized that the body was only a vessel-a soul was what mattered.

In this case, that was one of the problems.

Koenma gently took Yuusuke wrist, almost hating to disturb the stillness, and searched for a pulse.

The gesture confused Mitarai. "Koenma-sama…?"

"His soul hasn't emerged yet," Koenma told him.

"Is… that unusual?"

The god nodded. "The first time he died his soul emerged immediately."

Oh, how simple things had been then, before he had gotten attached to Yuusuke emotionally and spiritually. Back then, Yuusuke had only been a punk kid with a whole lot of attitude and a surprising level of compassion (that he kept hidden under a ton of crap). That, combined with his potential to grow, had been why Koenma picked him for his new Reikai Tantei. If he'd known it would end like this, perhaps he would've just let Yuusuke pass on…

It had been almost two years now. It was just a drop in the bucket of years for Koenma, has long-lived as his people tended to be. But this unlikely boy had brought such joy and wonder into his life. Even without the bond, that alone would have been enough to make the godling mourn him.

"The first time…" Mitarai's eyes widened with hope. "So he's come back before? Could he come back again?"

Koenma shook his head. "I wish that were the case. The last time he came back because I pulled some strings." It was unlikely he could do so again. The godling was still perplexed as minutes passed and the Tantei's soul had yet to rise from his body, nor did a shinigami come to escort his soul to the spiritual plane. There was just Yuusuke and Puu on the floor, terribly still.

Mitarai looked back at Yuusuke sadly. "Oh…"

They fell into an uncomfortable, melancholy silence, and Yuusuke's soul still did not emerge. In all his years, Koenma couldn't say he had seen this before. It was very strange. He kept hold of Yuusuke's hand along with Puu in his lap, both lifeless in his grip. He could still feel the phantom touch of that hand on his waist, and of the kiss that had been involved.

He said he _loved _me, Koenma thought numbly. Like it made any difference. For a few short seconds, he got what he wanted.

He thought he might confront Yuusuke about it, if only his blasted soul would emerge.

An intense light rushed through the cave, disrupting Koenma's thoughts. He recognized the light instantly: it was the SDF arriving on the scene. They were specialized warriors of the Reikai, working directly out of Enma's office and used only for the most disastrous of circumstances. Koenma watched them appear one by one in the cave, knowing that this meant his father had lost any confidence in his abilities. The SDF were here to clean up his mess.

He wished he hadn't told Botan to warn the Reikai after all.

Dressed in their customary uniforms, they each wore expressions of great self-importance. They began to station themselves around the cave, their leader shouting out orders.

Koenma stood, his legs still feeling unsteady, and he let go of Yuusuke's lax hand. He had absolutely no enthusiasm for dealing with the soldiers right now. "Captain, what are you doing here?"

Their leader, Captain Otake, spared the godling a glance. "Enma Daioh-sama sent us." Turning back to his subordinates, he continued to give them orders to seal both the tunnel and kekkai barrier. He had two of his men remain with him for the time being, two going into the tunnel itself.

"So Father has lost faith in my abilities."

Otake walked over, the two underlings a step behind. "Koenma-sama, return to the Reikai. We'll handle the rest."

"No, this is my mess," Koenma argued immediately. "I'll stay until it's finished." He couldn't just leave Yuusuke like this. He would escort him to the other side himself. No wonder a shinigami had yet to appear to collect the teen's soul, not with the SDF sent at the same time.

The man frowned. "If you don't go, you'll have to witness something painful," he said in a strangely gentle voice. "I don't want that for you."

Despite the tone, Koenma was immediately filled with dread and he sat Puu down gently beside Yuusuke. "What's going on, Captain?"

Otake looked him square in the eye. "We're here to eliminate Urameshi Yuusuke. He is the direct descendant of the Mazoku."

Startled, Koenma's hand went to his heart. _Wait. _"What?"

It took a mere second for Koenma to absorb this, and he did not let his happiness show, though on the inside he was soaring with it. To be eliminated, Yuusuke would have to _still be alive. _That was why the teen's soul had yet to ascend! Yuusuke wasn't dead; he was going through a metamorphosis!

He hadn't looked too far back on Yuusuke's lineage. If he was a descendant of one of the oldest demon clans, the connection could go back centuries to before the kekkai barrier had been put in place. Perhaps none of Yuusuke's relatives had shown signs of it because they had been unable to tap into the kind of potential that the teen had. An atavism of sorts.

Otake nodded soberly, not picking up on Koenma's mood shift. He watched was emotionless as one of his solders pushed Mitarai away from Yuusuke's body, while Koenma was clenching his fists, holding himself back.

"I'm afraid it's true. Your father did not know until just now when Urameshi died."

"But how?" Koenma pressed, stalling for time. "He's already died once, Captain. Why would he suddenly become a threat now?"

Beside the body, Puu began to glow subtly, waiting.

Koenma shifted in front of Otake, hoping he wouldn't notice. "He has gained immense spiritual power since his first death! So why now?"

"We have reason to believe that Urameshi's second death will be enough to trigger the Mazoku gene," said the Captain. "There is a good chance that we'll have two rogue Tantei on our hands instead of one. We must stop this madness now, Koenma-sama. Please understand. I'm sorry for you, truly, but this has to happen."

Inwardly, Koenma cursed at Otake—and by extension his father—for figuring out what he just had. He cursed himself for not figuring it out before them. "And my father never considered that this may make him a more powerful ally?"

"It is a risk we cannot take, sir."

"It is a risk we will _have_ to take," Koenma said firmly. "I won't let someone else suffer for my mistakes, not again" And he couldn't bear to lose Yuusuke for real, it would be too much after this renewed hope. Despite being a god, he felt it would most assuredly kill him-to have the hope taken away so abruptly.

"You can't know that he'll be evil just because of his blood!" Mitarai yelled. He was struggling to pick himself off the ground. He wasn't a fighter, and this may have been the first time he stood up to anyone who had bullied him. He seemed scared.

"Regardless, we have our orders," Otake said firmly.

"We won't let you!"

"Then you will be terminated," they were informed bluntly.

Koenma prepared to protect Mitarai, but it was unnecessary. As if alerted to the danger they were in and to his core the teen was just that overprotective, Yuusuke's body began to glow an eerie red, surging with renewed power. In contrast, Puu emitted a stronger blue glow, and both lifted off the ground, floating in midair.

"It's begun!" Otake shouted. "Fire!"

Instinctively, Koenma formed a shield as the two SDF opened fire, blocking their attacks easily.

"Koenma-sama!" Otake complained, but the godling held his ground.

He would not let them get near Yuusuke, not until this was done. He would let nothing stop the boy's rebirth.

Puu increased in size, growing into an adult phoenix before their eyes, and he wrapped large wings protectively around Yuusuke. Koenma could feel Yuusuke changing behind the shield and Puu's soft feathers. It would be a complete change, body and soul. Even he could not say who would be stepping out from behind Puu's wings when it was done.

"It's too late, Captain," he informed Otake grimly.

"No…" Otake fell to his knees, gaping. The SDF stopped firing.

A familiar voice spoke from behind the veil of Puu's wings, causing Koenma's heart to skip giddily. He smiled without really meaning to.

"That's enough now, Puu… Man, you guys sure can't let a guy sleep! That's the most rest I've had in freaking days."

Koenma happily let the shield drop. "Yuusuke…"

The smoke and wings cleared to reveal the disgruntled teen. Clad in only his torn jeans, Yuusuke's wounds had fully healed and he was incredibly, totally alive.

Koenma relaxed, his smile stretching wide, eyes drinking in the sight of his Tantei. Never before had anything or anyone looked so beautiful.

Yuusuke petted Puu fondly, stroking the enlarged bird's neck feathers. "Look at you. I sleep for a little bit and you get all huge. It's a good look for you…" An evil smirk formed on his lips as he turned toward them, but he threw a sneaky wink in Koenma's direction before speaking. "So, I'm some big bad evil monster now, eh?"

Otake subconsciously backed up a step at the maniacal gleam in the boy's eyes. "Uh…"

"No wonder I feel ready to kick some ass," Yuusuke remarked, raising his newfound Youki threateningly.

Otake's men began to cower and Koenma tried not to look too smug. A living, breathing Mazoku was way more than they could hope to contain.

_His_ Mazoku.

"Bow before me, you pitiful half-men!" Yuusuke boomed theatrically. "For I am the almighty Mazoku! You shall all love me and despair! Now that I've woken from my long slumber, I'll show you my true form…!" He trailed off into an insane cackle.

Koenma bit back a giggle, recognizing the movie lines Yuusuke was copying haphazardly. He wouldn't have needed the wink to know that the teen was faking it.

The SDF began to run for it, up until Yuusuke's shouting "Psych!" at which point they fell over themselves. None of them were sure whether they should be relieved or not.

"Anyway I'd better get going," Yuusuke said, quitting the act. "I'm grateful to the guys but there's no way they can beat Sensui."

Koenma nodded. Likely, Yuusuke's friends had arrived in the Makai by now. If they hurried, hopefully they could stop Sensui from causing more damage. At least in their rush through the tunnel, it seemed the invading demons had been incinerated. Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara _really_ increased in strength, it seemed.

"Wait, you can't go anywhere!" Otake argued. "We have orders!"

Yuusuke quickly switched back to his evil expression. "Leave me alone or I'll gobble you up, mustache and all! Geez…" He sighed. "I never get a break, Puu, I tell ya…"

He was still petting his spirit beast, Koenma noticed with no small amount of fondness.

"Ah!" the Captain cried, shakily. "I knew you couldn't hide your true character!"

"Look, it's called a gag!" Yuusuke shouted sourly, and he didn't seem so amused anymore. "Watch more TV, sheesh! Mazoku blood or not, I'm still me - Urameshi Yuusuke! The ass-kicker of men and demons, partime otaku on my days off, and slacker supreme. Nothing's ever gonna change that. Now excuse me while I go kick some Big Bad's ass and save the day - _again_!"

"And I'm coming with you," Koenma said. There was no way he was letting the teen out of his sight, not for awhile.

Yuusuke grinned, his brown eyes softening with another kind of intensity. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Ko."

Otake grabbed Koenma's arm, his grip hard like a vice. "You can't, Koenma-sama! Doing so would mean disobeying a direct order."

Yuusuke pressed his foot against the captain's face, kicking him away. "Hands off, ferret face! Keep your grubby hands off my prince. C'mon, Ko."

"I'm yours now, am I?" Koenma jibed as he was helped onto Puu's back behind Yuusuke. The phoenix supported their weight easily.

Yuusuke smiled over his shoulder. "I live in hope. Hold onto me tight."

Koenma nodded and wrapped one arm around Yuusuke's waist, pressing close shamelessly. It was the kind of close combat which, before, he had only felt comfortable with Tatsumi or Tsuzuki. Even if this didn't last, he didn't want to worry about it. For now, he wanted to focus on the delirious fact that Yuusuke was alive.

Yuusuke grinned happily. "Okay, Puu, let's go to the Makai!"

The phoenix emitted a shrill cry and flapped its great wings, taking them into the portal.

* * *

They caught up to the others just as Kurama's, Hiei's, and Kuwabara's new found strength began to wane. After the happy reunion, in which Hiei was incredibly smug about the teen actually being a demon, Yuusuke's last fight with Sensui Shinobu began.

Just as things had been getting good, however, Yuusuke heard a strange voice in his head; before he could even begin to wonder about his sanity and wonder if he was becoming like the bastard he was fighting, he blacked out.

When he woke, he wasn't sure what had happened or even how much time had past, but Yuusuke found himself pointing at Sensui, a super-powered Rei Gun traveling toward the older Tantei.

Yuusuke wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew one thing for certain—he hadn't shot Sensui! Someone was taking his victory from him!

"Move, dumbass!"

Sensui merely smiled weakly and let the blast hit him. He went crashing into the forest floor below.

Yuusuke watched it happen, feeling utterly helpless. "Damn!"

The others were still riding on Puu, who hovered in the wind nearby, and they followed Yuusuke down after Sensui.

Yuusuke bent down and shook the older Tantei roughly, trying to wake him up. "Come on, bastard, that totally didn't count! Wake up!"

"Urameshi, what're you doing?" Kuwabara demanded. "Isn't this what you wanted? You won!"

"Shut up! No I did _not!_" Yuusuke yelled, voice taking on a frantic edge.

"Uh, yeah, you did. We were watchin'."

He shook his head angrily. "Someone was controlling me."

"What?!"

"I'm not really sure what happened, but..." He had heard a voice. Hadn't he?

They were distracted from this startling revelation as Sensui showed some signs of life. He coughed weakly.

"He's still alive!" Yuusuke cried, relieved.

"Not for much longer, Yuusuke," Kurama murmured.

"Can't you do something?" Yuusuke pleaded.

"I'm afraid he used up most of my reserves," the fox admitted gravely. "The only thing I could do is give him something for the pain."

"That won't be necessary," said a new voice.

Yuusuke stood, watching as a circular portal opening appeared in front of them. A familiar long-haired figure stepped out of it. "It's you again…"

Itsuki looked like he was barely holding onto his calm, anger brimming close to the surface. "Please, just let Shinobu go."

"No way," said Yuusuke. "If I'm going to kill a human being, it should at least be _me_ doing it. It's not right."

Itsuki sighed. "Shinobu had less than half a month to live either way. Don't torture yourself. He was suffering from a rare, terminal, and incurable disease."

Yuusuke gaped. The others were equally shocked, all except for Koenma, Yuusuke couldn't help but noticing. He really had to talk to the godling about all the things he was keeping to himself.

Sensui smiled weakly. It seemed like his inner struggle with his crushed ideology was finally resolved in these final moments. "He's telling the truth."

Yuusuke looked at the man who had been his worst enemy to date, but he felt no anger toward him anymore. What had they been fighting about, really, and had they been enemies at all? Was this any different than when he'd fought Toguro? It seemed he kept fighting these men for their reasons, and not his own. It was frustrating and senseless - Yuusuke remembered finding more meaning with his street fighting than this.

But, damn it, the least Sensui could do was let Yuusuke be the one to kill him. Not some creepy voice in his head.

"You've got another half a month," the teen pointed out tentatively. "You could get better and then we'll have a re-match." He knew this sounded stupid and looked at Koenma helplessly. "Can't you do anything, Ko?"

Maybe he sounded like a spoiled child, but damn it,_ it wasn't fair._

"Don't," Sensui gasped sharply.

Yuusuke shook his head, his long hair moving with him, though he was hardly in a state at the moment to wonder at the length. "No! It wasn't _me_, don't you understand?!"

"Trust me, it was you," said the man with a kind, confident smile. "The part of you that was prepared to kill if you needed to."

Yuusuke looked at Koenma again desperately, wishing that someone would _understand_ his plight.

* * *

Koenma looked back at him. His beautiful Yuusuke, who could never truly be his, and damn that faint hope for stirring. He _did _feel for the disgruntled teen, but the pain of Sensui's life slipping away was gripping him.

Then Sensui smiled at him in a way he hadn't before, even when they were friends. It was almost as though he were being forgiven. "You saved Amanuma, right? Your Mafukan was my biggest obstacle in coming here and I had to stop you." Sensui took one more look around at the strange landscape, his expression so peaceful. "I had to come here, to be killed in the home of the demons I've killed for humans who didn't deserve it... and to be killed by a demon at that! I think I finally have a sense of closure..."

"Then have you finally learned to see the gray in things?" Koenma asked softly. He almost knelt on the ground beside his old friend, but some force kept him on his feet, close to Yuusuke. He needed to be near the part-Mazoku at that moment.

"I think so. I'm glad I could come here." Shinobu looked back at the still stunned Yuusuke. "You really enjoy yourself when you're fighting, but I was never like that. In fighting you, I think I grasped that joy, if only for a moment... Thank you."

There was nothing more to do and the other man's eyes slid closed. Shinobu went still, his last breath leaving him as lightning struck nearby. A storm was coming, but the loud clap of thunder did not distract from the moment, only adding to its intensity. None of them even jumped, though that may have been partly exhaustion as well.

Sensui Shinobu was dead. Koenma tensed as he felt the bond between himself and Shinobu unravel, though he was relieved to find it wasn't as painful as he had feared. (As painful as it had been with Yuusuke, the bond that had been restored on the teen's revival.)

It felt as if the man truly _had_ forgiven him, and didn't want to cause the god any further pain.

"Stay away from him, Koenma," Itsuki said abruptly.

Koenma blinked. "Itsuki?"

Itsuki did not look at him, his eyes focused on his lover's lifeless form. "He's finally at peace, so just leave it at that. Being killed by the most powerful demon was what he wanted, and it's healed his soul. Shinobu's last request to me was that he not be taken to the Reikai. So I'm taking him somewhere else."

The godling frowned. "If he doesn't go to the Reikai he may never be reborn..."

"I know," Itsuki said, not at all bothered. He reached down and lifted Sensui off the ground, grunting softly from the weight. He stepped back toward the portal behind him. "But I will not let Shinobu be judged by your laws."

Koenma suddenly understood and stepped toward his friend. "Wait, Itsuki!"

He knew he couldn't reach them in time, but thankfully Yuusuke stepped between Itsuki and his portal. "Listen to the man for just a sec, alright?" said the teen. "Sensui's not going anywhere."

This was true. Out in the Makai, it would take a Shinigami awhile to come and retrieve Sensui's soul.

Itsuki frowned at Yuusuke for getting in his way, but the teen frowned right back, not one to be intimidated.

"Itsuki," said Koenma, "you must know I would never let Shinobu take the blame for something that was my fault."

His old friend looked at him distrustfully. "You wouldn't? You would allow Shinobu, who was responsible for the deaths of humans and opening a tunnel to the Makai, to go to heaven?"

Koenma smiled, letting some of his sadness show. "I doubt Shinobu himself would consent to go to heaven. Reincarnation or purgatory aren't out of the question though."

"That would be... acceptable," Itsuki replied slowly, obviously still unsure if he should be listening to the god. "But I need your oath."

"You have it," Koenma said instantly. "Neither you nor Shinobu shall be sentenced to hell or be in any way permanently punished for what happened."

Itsuki nodded hesitantly. "If I have your word that it will be so... Then so be it."

Koenma smiled in relief. "It will be, don't worry."

"Can we go home now?" Kuwabara complained. "Hiei's already passed out from using his Black Dragon too much, and this place gives me the creeps..."

Itsuki reluctantly released Sensui to Koenma's care before disappearing back through the portal. It showed a great amount of trust on his part, and the godling began to hope that perhaps they could be friends once again. Perhaps not right away, but someday in the future.

He took the body to Puu, Kuwabara and Kurama helping him lie Shinobu down next to Hiei, when he noticed there was one missing from their party. Looking back, Koenma saw Yuusuke still standing a few feet away, looking out at the rocky terrain. The storm was building and if they didn't leave soon, it would be hard for Puu to navigate through the skies. But there was a severe look on his face and Koenma was hesitant to interrupt him.

* * *

"Yuusuke?"

Yuusuke looked into the distance. He was tempted to stay in the Makai and look for the bastard who had killed Sensui using his body. But he knew that if he did, he would be separated from Koenma for a long time. The SDF were still working on closing the tunnel-_the jerks_-and there may not be another opportunity for him to return to the Ningenkai.

Being parted from Koenma for a long time would be unbearable. No revenge was worth that.

Plus he was really fucking tired.

He looked back, and saw Koenma already perched on Puu, offering him a hand up. Yuusuke gave him a weak smile and took the offered help. He leaned against Koenma heavily once on the bird, the long day finally catching up to him. Just like that, revenge and answers weren't important-he wanted sleep and to be with Koenma.

"Puu, take us home."

Puu lifted off gently, carrying them back to the human world. Yuusuke passed out during the ride.

TBC.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

First new chapter since 2010! We hope you enjoy the new chapter and, if you're rereading, enjoy the changes we've made in the old chapters.

* * *

He stirred slowly, sensations filtering into his sleepy brain, gradually recognized because of previous acquaintance with this place. The sheets beneath him, soft and smelling like fresh detergent-Yukina was using the lavender stuff again, so good-tried to lull him back into the restful slumber he was rising him from. There was a wind chime gently being blown outside the window. That put him on the southern side of the temple, in the room that the old lady usually put him in. He still had some things in this room from his previous visit, he remembered dimly.

That chime though, it was so girly. It had tiny pink cherry blossoms painted on the surface. The ringing was soft and familiar, also numbing his mind to all thoughts of anything other than he was back, safe.

It was Genkai's temple. He was home.

Yuusuke smiled. He was home and there was someone working on his hair, combing through it very gently. He could tell it was still long, because the sensation was very different from usual, when he combed his hair. It also left his chest feeling weirdly fuzzy, like he was floating on a cloud.

Not that he knew what that felt like for certain. Maybe he'd ask Jin sometime, if he ever saw that crazy bastard again...

His mystery stylist worked his hair into three sections and tugged gently, not enough to hurt or make him alarmed at all. He couldn't figure out what the person was doing at first, since his hair had never been this long before. Yuusuke squinted his eye open, peering through the bright morning sunlight, to see Koenma sitting on the bed next to him, braiding a rope in his lap.

No, not a rope-that was Yuusuke's hair. He was amazed, it was that long.

"Great, now I'm Rapunzel," he muttered into his pillow.

He watched as Koenma continued to carefully plait his hair, occasionally stopping to grab a brush, working it through more tangles. It felt incredible.

"That would hurt," Koenma responded softly.

"Hm?"

"Someone using your hair as a rope."

"Heh, yeah. Remind me never to let Kuwabara try that."

Koenma's lips twitched in amusement. His expression was soft again, calm and carefree. The tension and weight of the last few days was lifted from him. It made Yuusuke feel good to see it, and all the focus that the godling was putting on him alone.

"Why Kuwabara?"

"Well, he's the only one that'd actually do it. You and the guys wouldn't need to use my hair to climb up anything. Also, you're not that stupid."

Koenma rolled his pretty eyes. "This is a ridiculous conversation."

"I know, it's so awesome. I love it."

The godling laughed warmly, a gorgeous sound, his smile beautiful. There was no pacifier in the way again and Yuusuke wondered if the damn thing was still in his pants.

He squirmed a little but felt nothing strange occupying his briefs, just the normal contents. Another part of him stirred, because it was morning, he was a teenager, and he wasn't used to so much positive attention bestowed upon him. But he was also sleepy and not inclined to do anything about it yet.

"Morning, Ko," he said belatedly.

Koenma's laughter died down and he finished with Yuusuke's hair, tying off the end and settling it down gently on the teen's back. He could vaguely feel the end land somewhere passed his ass.

"Good morning, Yuusuke."

He was still smiling with that warm, open expression. Yuusuke greatly approved of it and made a mental note to do whatever he could to get that expression on Koenma's face as often as possible.

He wanted to do things he'd never had the urge to do before, not really. He wanted to kiss down Koenma's neck and see how difficult the articles of princely clothing would be to remove. Or how long it would take the godling to protest.

Once he would have bragged about nonexistent sexual exploits, just to make himself look cool, but that had been a long time ago. It was what stupid punks did when they were messing around. Yuusuke had gone through so many changes since then. Now he scared punks off just by glaring at them, he had actual friends, and he didn't have fantasies about fucking someone hard into a mattress-he wanted to make love.

As embarrassing as it was to phrase it like that.

He wanted to do a lot of things, and probably wouldn't have even turned down hand holding, scribbling little hearts everywhere, and frolicking through fields. Not that he thought Koenma would be big on frolicking...

Yuusuke sat up slowly and noticed that some thoughtful person had changed his clothes while he was asleep. It would have either been Genkai, who had done it before during his training and would probably go to her (second) grave denying that fact, or Koenma. They would not have allowed Yukina to do it, however much that the little ice maiden acted as their group healer.

He was wearing pajamas that he had left there before, the pants a simple black cotton, and the t-shirt had some random American cartoon figures on the front. Not the sexiest thing ever, and as he pulled the braid over his shoulder, he presumed that he must look extremely effeminate.

He was also missing the cool-looking tattoos, and that was pretty disappointing.

He smiled at Koenma sheepishly. "How long was I out?"

"A few days."

"Damn. So when did they seal your powers?"

Koenma's brown eyes widened. "Not long after we returned. You could tell?"

The teen nodded. It was hard not to-not when he was so much stronger than before, with the combination of Genkai's orb and his recently released Mazoku strength. It was strange, feeling two very different types of energy thrumming through his body. It should have burned through him, or at the very least itched, but it was cycling inside him with a strange harmony.

Other than that change, and how he was able to notice things more easily, he felt bizarrely normal. It was kind of anti-climatic after everything that had happened to them since the beginning of the Sensui Shinobu case.

He was still upset about the thing with Sensui, but he was choosing to set that on the back burner for now. There were more important issues to attend to.

Like Koenma.

He stood, sliding out from the covers that had been draped over him during sleep, and stretched his arms above his head. Everything felt stiff but surprisingly not sore. He remembered a whole lot of pain from his injuries, so it was strange to feel as good as he did. Curiously, he felt the spots where he had been shot and stabbed. There weren't even bandages, just healed scars.

"Are you alright?" Koenma asked in concern, watching him feel himself.

"Yeah, just marveling at my super-duper Mazoku genes; that's some good stuff." He turned back to Koenma, serious. "The seal, was it because you wouldn't let them kill me?"

He hadn't left his body, and the period where he had "died," felt like a very vague dream. Except it hadn't been a dream at all. He remembered the SDF arriving and threatening his boss, while Koenma had stood his ground, not letting any of the bastards touch him and Puu. The memory left him feeling warm, but sad too-dying had hurt Koenma a lot.

It hadn't been the plan, not until it became obvious that he didn't have enough strength to take Sensui on his own. He didn't regret his metamorphosis into a Mazoku, even if he were to discover it had side effects later, and he didn't regret Kuwabara and the others getting stronger.

He regretted, and would until the day he finally died and stayed dead, was that he made Koenma cry and mourn him when it hadn't been necessary.

Koenma looked away. "Among other things."

"And those are?"

"Enma no longer has faith in my abilities."

"Crap. Sorry."

He sat back on the soft mattress, putting them on eye level again as he touched Koenma's shoulder. The red cape was missing somewhere, but Koenma still wore the tunic he had worn in the cave. Only this one looked less torn and dirty, so Yuusuke supposed he must have changed his clothes between then and now.

Last time Koenma had come to Earth with his powers sealed, he was already wearing human clothes by the time Yuusuke saw him. Seeing the two contrasting styles, Yuusuke thought he liked Koenma dressed in garments from his native land just as much as the Earth casual-something about it fit more naturally.

Not that he wouldn't mind seeing Koenma in different types of clothing either. And, in particular, out of all of them.

Koenma was smiling again. "Don't be. I'm alright."

He relaxed at the sight of that gentle, open smile. Somehow that make it all okay.

Yuusuke touched Koenma's cheek, feeling a calm he'd never felt before. Inside, he was so still, like the surface of a lake. Thoughts weren't buzzing through his head in that constant way that kept him from meditating. This wasn't his new power, or at least not just-this was the bond with Koenma.

"Hm?" Koenma's eyes fluttered as he leaned into his hand.

Yuusuke hadn't really been asking anything, but he remembered some questions he'd had before. "Back in the cave, you didn't say anything. Well, you said a lot, but not about what I said. About, you know, stuff."

Koenma blushed, his cheek feeling warm against Yuusuke's palm. "You didn't ask a question."

"Oh. That's a good point, I guess." Yuusuke cleared his throat. It was time to be a man and face the issue head on. "Uh. Do you want to give me a shot? Like I said, I'm a crappy boyfriend. I figure we both have a lot of issues we'd be bringing onto the table. And there's gonna be a shitload amount of drama. But I still want to try, if you're willing to give me a chance."

Koenma was silent as Yuusuke continued to ramble, and he thought that was his answer. The teen forced a smile and wished he hadn't spoken up at all.

Talking sucked. He was going to swear off of meaningful talks for the rest of his life, at this rate. It wasn't at all gratifying to realize, but making himself care about people also left him vulnerable to hurt, exactly what he had spent most of his life trying to avoid.

"It's okay, just pretend I didn't say anything," Yuusuke said, about to pull away when Koenma reached out.

The former god took hold of his braid, fingering the dark locks he had so carefully put together. His face was still red. For such a tall guy-in his adult form at least-he was remarkably shy. "I haven't given my answer yet, you know."

"Oh." He could kick himself for the overreaction. So much for facing his problems. All he'd ever done was run away from them, and he knew different now. Genkai had given her life to make sure he never ran away again, that he would never end up like they all thought the younger Toguro had.

The thought that he could ever hurt Koenma that way, do the things that Toguro had done to Genkai, made Yuusuke's gut twist sharply in resistance.

He would _never _do that to Koenma. Not ever.

Yuusuke closed the distance between them and kissed Koenma for the second time ever, the former god's lips soft and pleasant against his own. He could feel Koenma's breath against his face as he instinctively breathed through his nose and, taking the hint, Yuusuke did the same.

The first time he'd been swept away. The sense of Koenma's immense powers just beneath the surface had intoxicated his senses until what he'd meant to be a simple distraction became one step removed from losing his virginity once and for all.

He'd been supremely aware for the first time how small his own potential was in comparison to Koenma's. Now the tables were reversed, Koenma's humanity making him seem small, even fragile as Yuusuke pressed closer to him. One part of him screamed that he should take advantage of that fragility but a bigger part was overwhelmed with the desire to protect. Hold, keep, love, save. He groaned, deepening the kiss as he pushed himself more firmly against the former god's tall, slender body.

As Koenma started to tentatively respond to the contact, the heat inside him surged all the more strongly. He wanted-needed-to get closer and let his body move, trying to find the best way to do that without ending the kiss. The best way seemed to be straddling Koenma's waist.

Dimly, he began to hear Koenma make soft, mewling sort of sounds into the kiss, the former god's hands coming up to grip the sides of his shirt, as if he wanted to keep Yuusuke close.

He shivered and had to break the kiss, forcing himself to calm down before he began ripping off Koenma's pretty tunic. He pressed kisses to his boss's cheeks, nose, and forehead, soft but enthusiastic. "Ko."

Koenma was flushed and smiling, his eyes bright and shimmering with intensity, enough to make Yuusuke dizzy. "Yuusuke." His voice was deeper, throaty, and it made the teen shiver again.

"God, you're gorgeous," he panted, pressing his forehead against Koenma's. The former god felt warmer now and wondered if it was his imagination or if it had been caused by the kiss as well. He wanted so badly just to grind down into Koenma until he came, but he resisted.

He was a horny teenager, but Koenma technically wasn't.

Koenma laughed softly, shaking his head. "You should see yourself right now. You're the gorgeous one."

Yuusuke felt his face grow warm. "Oh god, I'm turning into such a girl."

"You're definitely _not _a girl, Yuusuke."

"Oh man." Yuusuke closed his eyes tight, resisting the urge to hide. It helped calm down the hormones slightly, at any rate. "Is it too weird to ask if we can stay like this awhile? I mean, I'm not heavy or anything, am I?" He wasn't putting his full weight on Koenma's thighs, but he wanted to check anyway.

"You're fine."

He sighed and relaxed, nuzzling his red cheek against Koenma's. He felt the former god pet his braid some more and smiled. "Surprised nobody made Kurama cut my hair yet."

"Keiko did," Koenma admitted softly, "when she saw. She and Shizuru were waiting for us when we came back."

Since it sounded so peaceful outside-the bell was still chiming and the birds were starting to sing, going about their normal day to day routine-he guessed that the portal to Makai had been closed for good. At least the stupid SDF punks were good for something.

That meant his mission really was over, and he now had to think about what he'd been pushing aside until it was done. "I guess I need to talk to her. Just got no clue what to say. 'Sorry, you're still my best friend but I'm in love with someone else, no please don't hit me oh god the pain ow ow ow?'"

Mentioning his ex should have ruined the mood utterly, but Koenma tightened the hold he had on Yuusuke's shirt instead of pushing him away.

"Do you?" he asked softly, eyes opening to look into Yuusuke's.

Yuusuke blinked. It was weird focusing on a gaze so close to his own, he felt a little cross eyed. He smiled. "Well, yeah. I said so, didn't I? Pretty sure, anyway." He gently combed his fingers through Koenma's soft, considerably shorter hair (in comparison to his own), trying not to feel as shy as he did. His macho image was totally ruined.

"I love you," he said again.

His gorgeous former god blushed, eyes widening, and he hid his face against Yuusuke's shoulder.

He continued to pet Koenma's hair, a little surprised by the ostrich routine-because that reaction reminded him of those old cartoons where ostriches would get scared and hide their heads in the sand. Except ostriches apparently didn't do that because they were scared in real life. " And I think you at least _like_ me, right?"

"I'd have to."

"Huh?" He nuzzled Koenma's hair when he didn't answer. "Why would you have to? I'm not holding a gun to your head."

Koenma still wouldn't answer, or leave his hiding place in Yuusuke's neck, so the teen really didn't know what to do.

"Hey, come on. I know I can be an ass, but I won't make fun. C'mon, please, I'll do anything you want..."

"It's embarrassing."

That would explain the hiding. "Okay, but, seriously, I won't laugh. I'll even tell you something embarrassing about me, if that helps."

"Probably not," Koenma muttered into his skin, "but you can give it a shot."

Yuusuke smiled shortly. "Lovely vote of confidence there, sweetheart. So, um. Well, you know about the time I felt up that girl demon that still had her, uh, penis... Oh, I dressed as a sailor senshi for Halloween one time."

That surprised Koenma enough to lift his head and blink at him, surprised. "Why?"

"I lost a bet. Can't sew for shit, so it was interesting going around to all the stores trying to find a Sailor Mercury costume that would fit."

"Why Mercury?"

"I got the hair for it. All I had to do was dye it blue." He sometimes missed the blue hair, that had been the best part. "Oh, and I'm a virgin still."

Weirdly, that was easier to admit than the cross dressing. He had his priorities in order.

Koenma was surprised again, but he looked concerned too, while he rubbed gentle circles into Yuusuke's lower back. "What about Keiko?"

The touch helped him relax again. "We never got that far. It just felt so awkward. I never knew what to do or say, and she would just blush and squirm like she didn't know anymore than I did. We hardly ever kissed. Just went on a couple of dates and that was before the Dark Tournament, when I dragged her to hell... Since then, I've started to wonder what I was even doing. I've always felt awkward with other people, girls even more so. I just don't know what to do with them."

"Most men don't," Koenma noted mildly. "Also, you didn't drag her to the tournament. She followed you of her own free will. If it's anyone's fault, it's Botan's for opening her mouth in the first place."

Yuusuke sighed. "I guess. Still feel like crap, since none of us would have had to go at all if it weren't for me."

More rubbing. "It happened, Yuusuke. Don't beat yourself up about something that's already long over. Especially not when everything inevitably worked out. Keiko wasn't harmed, Genkai is alive-we're all alive. That was honestly more than I dared to hope for, at the time."

"Again, feeling the confidence from you." Koenma rolled his eyes, making the teen grin briefly. "I mean, I do love her. She's my best friend. She was my only friend for a long time, before Kuwabara, Botan, and you. Then I met Kurama, Hiei, and Genkai. I've just been gathering up friends like collectible trading cards, and that's just not who I used to be. I'm not sure who I even am right now, but I know one thing for sure. I don't want to be the guy that hurts a girl because he can't admit he's gay. I can't do that to Keiko, no matter how happy she seemed dating me. It's not right. And yeah, maybe few things in life are fair, but that doesn't mean that I can't try to make a few things okay."

"You're not gay, Yuusuke," Koenma corrected gently.

"Not completely straight either. Just, after awhile I started to wonder if we were only together because everyone kept saying we should be. Even you were doing it."

Koenma sighed softly against the teen's cheek. "Truthfully, you and Keiko are destined to be together. That's what's written-and don't ask in what, that's Reikai secret. Just know that you and she really are meant to be."

Yuusuke tilted Koenma's face until the former god looked him in the eye. "Hey. Since when have I followed along blindly with destiny?"

The expression on the other man's face softened into something between fondness and exasperation. "You are so frustrating."

He grinned recklessly. "I try."

"Did you try to talk to Keiko about your hesitation?"

Yuusuke let him change the subject slightly. "I haven't exactly had a lot of time." It wasn't like he had gone out of his way to make time for it, however. "She seems happy. That is, when she's not nagging at me about stuff, but she always did that. I'm used to it so that's not even the problem. She's important to me, she always will be, but... As much as I love her, I feel different when I'm with you, Ko. You're precious in a different way." He blushed at the honestly.

"I love you in a different way. You've become so important. I think about you all the time, even when I'm about to get into a fight. Being near you is distracting. I feel like if I can get you to smile, I've accomplished something important. I want to be useful to you, even if I can't fight for you now.

"Maybe it's the same in some ways, but mostly it just feels different. More... intense and way less awkward. And man, when we kiss..." He grinned again, winking.

Koenma's shy smile returned and his hid his face again, cuddling close. Yuusuke let him, holding Koenma in his arms happily. The other's lithe, warm body felt so right in his arms.

"I feel so happy and peaceful," Yuusuke added softly. "Like I could fly without Puu. Just float away. Does that sound stupid?"

"It doesn't," Koenma said into his neck. "Not to me."

"Yeah?"

"Yes, Yuusuke."

He resumed petting Koenma's hair. "Cool."

Then, even softer that he barely heard it, Koenma said, "I'm a virgin too."

Yuusuke tried not to swallow his own tongue at this confession, unintentionally making the weirdest keening sound, like a dog caught between a howl and a cough.

"What?" Koenma demanded suspiciously.

He tried to talk a few more times, but it was difficult. Eventually, he managed, "I never thought I'd die of arousal. A lot of other things, but not that. Holy crap, Ko..."

Koenma blushed, looking a little scandalized by his bluntness. "Yuusuke."

He tightened his arms on the former god. "You mean it? Oh shit, can you feel that way about someone? I'm such a creep, here I am thinking about all sorts of naughty things, and you can't..."

"I can," Koenma said before he could go any further.

"Oh. That's good. Great. Awesome. Yeah." Koenma resumed hiding his face and Yuusuke tried to stop himself from grinning like a wolf. "Hey, sorry, it's fine. Really, it's all fine. We don't have to do anything you don't want."

"I _do _want," Koenma said against his skin.

This time, Yuusuke really did bite his tongue. "Ow."

"Hm?"

"Bit my tongue. Hurts."

A muffled laugh. "Yuusuke..."

"Make it feel better?"

"Okay, that one was just awful."

Yuusuke knew that, but he felt smug when they resumed kissing regardless. It started soft and sweet, just the merest brush of their mouths, gently exploring, but it had the heat stirring inside Yuusuke just as quick as before. Their conversation should have shot the mood dead, but he supposed love declarations could work some small wonders after all.

There was no warning when Koenma's lips lightly clamped down on Yuusuke's lower one as he began to suck on it. The teen gasped, the sensation driving him wild as he pushed Koenma down gently to lie on the bed, falling with him, not disturbing what Koenma was doing to his mouth.

Koenma raised his knees up, letting Yuusuke settle his body between his legs, and this time he did not resist grinding. He had hesitated to do this before, but now that he was doing it, the former god didn't seem to have a problem with them rutting like they were both teenagers.

They were sweating and panting when they were done-Yuusuke was absently very glad he wasn't wearing jeans, because the chafing would have been bad-and both their crotches were decidedly wetter than when they started. Yuusuke had to hold in an inappropriate and hysterical giggle, as he didn't think Koenma would take it very well right now, and he had already lost enough of his macho cred as it was. Even if he did feel deliriously happy about the whole thing.

He wished it could have gone further. No clothing had actually been shed, which was unusual because he could hardly leave the house without losing his shirt these days. Maybe later they could do more, if Koenma was amenable for that. He could plan their next intimate moment out better perhaps.

Spontaneity was fun, but he thought if he had time, he could make it even better for both of them.

Koenma's hands were still clenched onto his shirt. "Yuu," he breathed softly.

He grinned lopsidedly at the nickname, lifting his head enough to look at him through his long bangs. The braid, which had landed between them during their love-making? grinding?-was looking mussed as well.

"Ko?" Yuusuke looked at the former godling through his lashes.

He was pulled down into another, softer kiss, both of them still catching their breath.

Koenma's smile was much more timid as they pulled apart, Yuusuke rolling to the side so that he weight wasn't on the other man anymore. He traced that smile, his heart clenching with fondness as Koenma blushed some more.

"Okay?" he asked, really meaning 'Was that okay?' but that wasn't how it was taken.

Koenma merely nodded shyly, not quite meeting his gaze. "I should tell the others you're awake. They've been worried this whole time."

It did seem selfish, even to himself, but Yuusuke couldn't help his pout. "Then we won't be alone anymore."

Koenma looked at him again, with a mild expression. "You should be grateful they care enough to be worried."

He sighed, feeling put-upon. "Okay, fine. Will you come back?"

"If you want, yes," Koenma promised, cheeks reddening a little again. "Get cleaned up. Kurama and Hiei will smell what's happened."

"Oh god." Yuusuke wrinkled his nose. "Is that what that is?"

Koenma paused mid-getting up. "You have a heightened sense of smell as well?"

"I guess so. Hadn't been paying attention." He wiggled his eyebrows. "I had other things on my mind."

The blush deepened. "Shower, Yuusuke."

"Oh fine." Yuusuke sighed and got up as well, but only because his damp pajamas were starting to feel uncomfortable. He eyed Koenma, who was fixing his clothes to try to cover the stain on his trousers, probably so he could sneak out and get some clean clothes before the others noticed.

"Hey, Ko. Can you give me an answer yet?"

He realized he shouldn't have asked again so soon when Koenma refused, again, to meet his eyes. "I don't think I have an answer to give, Yuusuke."

"Oh." It was suddenly hard to breathe, like he'd been punched in the gut and all the air had rushed out of him. "Okay."

It must have been obvious in his voice because Koenma sighed in frustration. "Yuusuke. I said that I liked you."

"You said you _had _to like me."

Koenma gave him a very quick, very strained smile. "Everyone likes you. Who am I to break with tradition?"

That earned a smile out of Yuusuke in response, though it felt just as rough. He wished, fervently, that they could just crawl back into bed and forget about the others, the whole damn world, and just _be._ It could be so fantastic if it wasn't for all the issues he knew they would have to deal with.

Koenma placed his hand on the door, prepared to slide it open, but he paused again. "Give my heart a chance to heal before I give you the chance to break it again, alright?"

The teen moved before he even thought about it, pushing Koenma up against the door and kissing him with all the scary and messy passion he had for the former godling, cupping his pretty face in his calloused hands. Because Koenma was so important, so precious to him, and Yuusuke didn't think he could express that in words. Even if it was the words that might have convinced Koenma to not walk away from him.

The other man responded and the kiss gentled into something tender, that left them both a little breathless when it ended.

"As if I'd just let you leave with that," Yuusuke muttered. "Crap, Ko. What am I even supposed to say? I'm not trying to break your heart. Everything but."

Koenma placed his hands over Yuusuke's, caressing before pulling them away. "Give me time, Yuusuke. Please. This is... so much. You have no idea how much."

The teen sighed. "Okay. You got it. All the time you need." Hell, he was a demon now, maybe he'd live as long as Hiei and Kurama at this rate. He had time, a lot more than he ever thought he would.

"I'll get the others," Koenma said again. Their mouths were still close, and Koenma hadn't quite let go of his hands yet. "You could ask Kurama to cut your hair."

"Nah, I'm kinda starting to like it. Think of all the long haired characters I could cosplay now."

Koenma rolled his eyes, getting another slight smile. It still felt like a victory, however small. "You goof. Go wash up."

The former god finally let him go and stepped out of the room. Yuusuke pressed his forehead against it, willing himself not to race out after Koenma, despite how tempting it was to throw him over his shoulder and run away as far as he could. Cave man style.

But he didn't. He had promised, he would give Koenma time.

Sighing, he made himself step into the bathroom with a change of clothes.

* * *

As he exited Yuusuke's room, he could hear voices coming from down the hall, where the boy's friends had gathered. Koenma walked in the other direction, slipping quickly into his room before any of them noticed.

Once inside, he leaned back against the door and tried to choke down the tears that threatened to spill. He hugged himself, his throat feeling tight and his heart beating fast with panic and distress. The more he tried to calm himself down, the stronger to urge to just let it out became, but he resisted. He did not have a good complexion for crying, and the others would be able to tell. Yuusuke would be able to tell, and what was he supposed to say was the cause?

That suddenly, all his wildest dreams that he had never even dared to hope for, might be coming true and that made him afraid? That there were so many ways that this could go wrong? That he expected Yuusuke to yell "psych!" at any moment and go running back to Keiko's waiting embrace?

It had been days while waiting for Yuusuke to wake up, more than enough time for Koenma to begin to have doubts about what had occurred in the cave.

Even setting the matter of Yuusuke's real soul mate aside, there was another matter to consider entirely. Even if this fantastic dream turned out to be something real, they would inevitably have to face whatever machinations that Enma could possibly have planned for them. The lord of the dead would not simply let this pass.

All his life, that man had manipulated the strings in everything that had to do with Koenma's life. He had torn his son down and shredded his soul and self-esteem in a bid to craft him into the perfect, unquestioning, patsy. Koenma shivered as memories of Enma's cruel treatment tried to rise, unbidden, to the forefront of his thoughts. He pushed them back again harshly. They already haunted his nightmares, he couldn't allow them to affect his waking hours as well. Guilt swamped him also; it felt selfish to be so concerned with himself and his happiness when Enma had already hurt so many for trying to help him.

Every person that had dared to care for him paid for it. For daring to raise him in a competent manner, even protect him from assassins, Tatsumi was never allowed as many promotions that he surely deserved, and Tsuzuki's meeting the psychotic Muraki was arranged from the start. He had no proof, but he also strongly suspected that the only reason that the Black Black Club's meeting on that fateful night had wound up on his desk at all was because of his father's spite. To make Shinobu and Itsuki pay for being his friends.

He had never dared to get closer to George and Botan, often forcing himself to give them menial chores, putting them down, so that they would remain safe.

Enma was going to notice how he cared for Yuusuke, if this continued. It might already be too late.

Koenma wasn't ready to face the older god, not now. The seal wasn't entirely his problem; he had ways to remove it if he so wished. At the moment, it made no difference, and being a human might make him seem insignificant in his father's eyes.

He could hope, anyway.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and hugged himself tighter, feeling the phantom touch of Yuusuke in his arms, only a few moments ago. It was likely something he would have to pay for later, but he couldn't make himself forget it now. He wanted, with all his heart, to believe Yuusuke and not have his worries about his father hanging over his head.

He continued to think about it as he quickly wiped himself clean and got a fresh pair of pants.

In the sitting area, Kurama was teaching Hiei how to play chess, an activity which had begun a few days into waiting for their leader to wake up. While it was something that the fox spirit seemed to honestly enjoy, it was obvious that Hiei was only going along with his mate and was not all that enthused with the board game. Kurama would chide Hiei about his aggressive tactics, while Hiei would glower over Kurama's passive playing.

The bickering wasn't strained, Koenma couldn't help noticing. It was their normal level of friendly banter. They had forgiven one another again. This made him glad, if only because it made them easier to deal with.

Kuwabara was sitting nearby, reading a textbook and taking notes-presumably for school. As the two demons seemed to be lost in their own little world, it was the teen that noticed Koenma first.

He blinked curiously. "Hey, what's up? You got a weird look on your face."

Koenma quickly masked whatever must have been showing-that would not do at all. "Yuusuke's awake," he said mildly, waving a casual hand as if to emphasize the situation.

Kuwabara grinned. The tall boy wasn't nearly as moronic as Yuusuke liked to think he was, but he didn't catch Koenma's evasion. "Geez, thought he was gonna try hibernating for the winter." Hiei snorted which just made him grin wider. "Well, he _does_ idolize you, Hiei, and _you_ sleep after all your fights now."

"Shut up, or you will feel pain."

"Bite me, shorty."

Koenma tuned out the squabbling as he walked with them back to Yuusuke's room. This, too, was normal, even if it had evolved from real hatred to a slow-simmering irritation. It still amazed him, as the one who had watched it all from the sidelines, how a mismatched group of rogues and misfits had evolved into something approaching a team.

But here they were, in a temple, waiting for their leader to recover. The temple which was still standing, even. He was pretty sure Genkai's home insurance did not cover "act of unholy fiery demonic rage."

Kuwabara nudged him very lightly with his elbow outside of Yuusuke's door. "Koenma. You sure you're okay?"

He nodded, confused by the familiarity as well as the concern. Kuwabara hadn't exactly noticed him before. Of course, the teen had also witnessed Yuusuke's "love confession," so maybe he was making an effort to be nice? That didn't seem likely.

The tall young man rubbed the back of his orange head, shifting uncertainly. "Good, 'cause, you know. If you ever have a problem, Urameshi's not the only one that cares about you." He blushed, looking even more uncomfortable. "I mean, not like he does, obviously, but I still care."

It was one of the few times that Koenma had to admit, he was pleased to be wrong, and smiled at Kuwabara faintly. "Thank you, Kuwabara."

* * *

Yuusuke was back in bed when they arrived, dressed in jeans and a fresh shirt, with his hands folded casually behind his head and cocky grin in place. "Hey guys."

Hiei's red eyes raked over his body, as if checking him over for leftover wounds. "Took you long enough."

"You were worried?" Yuusuke simpered, he couldn't help it. "That's so sweet, Hiei."

He looked up, meeting Koenma's eyes. He wanted to ask him to come closer, to sit beside him while he goofed around with his buddies, but the discomfort in his gaze gave him pause. Whatever Koenma needed to think about, he still needed more time.

Even if it meant Koenma would turn him down, Yuusuke didn't really have a choice.

Koenma slipped back out, saying he would get the girls as well, and Yuusuke let him. He sagged, lowering his arms as soon as the former god was gone.

"You had sex," Hiei said abruptly, eyes narrowed.

Yuusuke flushed hotly. "I did not!"

"The smell of bodily fluids is unmistakable."

"Well apparently it is this time!"

Kuwabara was looking a little green. If Yuusuke wasn't so busy flailing, he might tease him. "Guys, I said I'd be cool with this, but I'm not _that _cool."

"Ignore him," Yuusuke told him. "He's just pulling your chain."

Kurama sat beside him, and his presence immediately had the benefit of reassuring the teen. He carried with him the smell of various flowers, making Yuusuke think of soil and recently watered plants, which he'd never noticed before.

"Do you want to talk about it?" the fox asked gently.

"Nothin' to talk about," Yuusuke muttered, folding his arms stubbornly. He didn't exactly like airing his dirty laundry right in front of his friends; it was embarrassing.

"It's alright. You can talk to me."

Yuusuke pouted and looked at the others. Kuwabara was also concerned, and Hiei was pretending not to listen, which probably meant he was interested as well. He wasn't going to get out of this one, so he gave Kurama an abbreviated version of the events from that morning.

"You'll work it out," Kurama said when he was done. "He does care about you a great deal."

"Think so?"

"He hasn't let you out of his sight since you passed out," Hiei said.

"He carried you here, even after Kuwabara offered to," Kurama put in.

Kuwabara nodded. "And he braided your hair," he pointed at the mussed braid, "which is pretty damn intimate. So stop doubting so much, it's not like you."

"That's true." Hiei smirked a little on the malicious side. "Normally, you're much more brash and thoughtless."

"So true!"

Yuusuke growled. "It's so great having friends, dunno why I was ever on my own. I_ love _how noisy you make my life."

"Idiot." Hiei continued smirking.

Genkai and Yukina entered, so Yuusuke finally got some more details about the aftermath of the battle, though not many. It seemed that without Koenma around, the information that Botan could get was limited. From what she had managed to find out, it was pretty certain that the Doctor escaped from jail and Sniper, who was not as dead as Yuusuke had believed, disappeared. There were no new incidents that sounded like they were attacking people again-it seemed the two had just disappeared.

That left Mitarai and Amanuma from Sensui's team. Both boys had returned to school. Mitarai was still incredibly shy for a boy his age, but at least he had them now, and he could exchange emails with Kuwabara and Kurama. Amanuma was doing better and had even made some friends his own age.

Kido had left the hospital just the day before, through some stroke of luck able to walk again. He and Yana were also resuming their studies. Kaito and Kurama retained their friendly rivalry at school, the fox admitting that it was strange to have someone to talk to while he was just Shuuichi.

They all still had their powers, but Genkai cautioned them against using them openly. Yuusuke thought this was for the best-he didn't want his new friends attracting the kind of unwanted attention his powers had drawn.

Kurama nodded. "You do have a market on psychos."

"Thanks, Kurama." Yuusuke rolled his eyes. "Such good friends."

The fox had the nerve to smile innocently.

* * *

Being around Yuusuke was hard at the best of times. Perhaps this moment wasn't quite the worst, either, but it was far from best and Koenma just needed what he had asked the teen for. He needed time to think about what he was doing.

He left, going outside when he felt Botan arriving. The special permissions he had granted on the shinigami must have been revoked because she was back in the pink kimono once more. Catching sight of him, she smiled and floated down, riding her oar side-saddle.

"Koenma-sama!"

"Botan-chan," he greeted. "What is it?"

"Nothing serious, I just came to visit Yuusuke." The wattage on her smile dropped considerably. "How is the big lug?"

"Awake, actually," he was glad to tell her, for she instantly brightened again.

"Good! I should go give him a talking to, making you worry like this."

Koenma blushed. "It's fine, Botan, really." It was strange how all of them simply accepted he and Yuusuke to be dating now.

She smiled and waved a dismissive hand. "George asked me to pass along some information to you," the pretty shinigami added in a lower voice, a file folder materializing in her hand, which she handed over. "And I'm someone's escort."

Koenma was about to ask who she meant, when he saw a portal materialize nearby. He smiled softly. "Itsuki."

Itsuki returned the smile. He looked different than the last time he had seen the demon. The determined sadness was replaced with quiet contentment. The clothing he wore was of better quality, more like the outfits that Itsuki used to prefer. He was wearing his long, green hair up once again.

"Koenma." There was no animosity in his voice. A mild playfulness perhaps, which made him sound normal-normal to Koenma at any rate.

"I hadn't expected to see you," Koenma admitted.

"Always did like surprising you." Itsuki inclined his head to Botan. "Thank you for the escort, Botan-san."

"The pleasure was mine, Itsuki-san," she giggled, flying upward back into the fluffy white clouds up above. "See you both later!"

They watched until she disappeared, going back to her duties in the Reikai. Koenma hoped she behaved herself, but Botan was a smart young woman. She would take care not to get caught by any of Enma's loyalists. (The Chief and Tatsumi would also likely take care to watch over the palace Shinigami.)

Once they were alone, he asked, "Is there a problem?"

"No, not at all. Shinobu's soul is safely in a purgatory. A wild west setting. He's enjoying himself immensely." The tall demon's eyes were sparkling.

Koenma smiled, relieved. He only had enough time to scurry up to his office to file the paperwork for the sorting of Shinobu's soul before the seal was put back on him. There had been no time to check to be sure it went through. Thankfully, there were those loyal to _him_ as well.

Itsuki took a seat on the temple steps. "He asked me to pass on a message to you, actually."

"Oh?"

The demon's smile turned mischievous. "He said to tell you that he knows he hurt you, though it wasn't his intention at the time. You were an obstacle in his plans, and that's his own fault, not yours. But he hopes you'll be able to open your heart to Yuusuke-kun."

Koenma flushed at the bluntness. He knew that those would have been Shinobu's words, but he had forgotten just how intuitive his former Tantei could be. "I'm glad he's feeling better."

"As am I. But how are _you?_ The last few days were rough on you as well."

"I'm fine," was all he could say, and it wasn't precisely a lie. He just had a lot on his mind.

Itsuki eyed him, and Koenma knew he wasn't nearly as good hiding his feelings as he liked to believe. "And your boy?"

"He's not my boy."

Itsuki sighed. "Tell me what happened. Don't try lying, I can tell. You have that shifty look, like when you were always trying to keep us from figuring things out. Just spill it."

Knowing there would be little point in arguing, Koenma gave in. He sat down beside him on the steps and told Itsuki everything that had gone on in Yuusuke's bedroom. During the telling, where he said things that he wouldn't have felt comfortable explaining to anyone else, Koenma came to the breathtaking realization that nearly had him tripping over his own words: he had his dear friend back.

It was like no time had passed at all. Years and heartache were pulled aside like a veil, so that all that mattered was this moment-and this was a very good moment. Koenma would treasure it the rest of his life.

When he finished, he shrugged. "It's difficult. We're from very different worlds."

Itsuki was frowning thoughtfully, staring out at the large courtyard around them. "Then you'll have to make a world of your own, the two of you."

"For Enma to smash into the ground when he destroys us."

"As cynical as ever, I see."

"Shinobu was the optimistic one."

Itsuki smiled thinly. "We did have to drag him down to earth a lot, didn't we?" He touched Koenma's arm. "But would Enma really risk incurring the Jade Emporer's wrath?

"He has before. And Yuusuke has no fear of my father. He has no idea." The boy hadn't known what he was doing, threatening Enma upon his arrival in the Reikai, the first time right after the car crash. Enma likely saw Yuusuke, at the time, as something insignificant, like a fly. But every fly was annoying enough to swat away, with hardly any effort at all.

"There must be a way to stop him," Itsuki pressed gently.

He shook his head. "I've never found one."

"Oh, but that's not the Koenma that I know." The demon smiled darkly. "You act the fool to everyone who doesn't know you well, all to make your father believe you're not that smart. But you've got your plots and you've had a very long time to think about them."

"That doesn't mean that I've yet to find a way to stop him!" Koenma hissed in frustration, ready to tear out his human, vulnerable hair. "I have some proof of his misdeeds, but it's not enough. He's isolated me from everyone but family and they're no more powerful than I am."

Itsuki grew silent, his gaze returning to the peaceful scenery before he spoke again. "Perhaps we're looking at this the wrong way. What of Yuusuke's ancestor?"

Koenma snorted softly. "Humans have a saying for this: it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Tracking down a specific demon in the Makai is almost impossible; though I can make some guesses."

"I did some poking around while I was there last," Itsuki told him, "and I have a few as well. One that I have a strong feeling about."

Koenma's voice came out dry, he knew. "Let me guess: Raizen."

His friend's smile returned. "I guess it was an obvious conclusion." It dropped a little but didn't disappear. "He's getting sicker, it seems. Mukuro and Yomi are waiting for him to drop dead with bated breath."

"A man-eater; Enma won't be happy about that even if he_ is _semi-reformed." Though the war with the Makai had been long before Koenma was even born, it was such a notorious event that he knew most of the details. Not just notorious, but disastrous. Innumerable resources had gone into that war and all the Reikai had managed to claim was a tiny chunk of land. They had almost gone bankrupt. It was one of the main reasons Enma was so unpopular.

To say the least, there was no love lost between the king of hell and the demon nation.

"Yes," Itsuki said. "If only he were stronger, or had weened himself off human meat instead of quitting cold turkey. His body won't accept any other type of food. Now, he is withering away, day by day. A shame, as an S-class demon would make a powerful ally for you right now."

Koenma hummed. He thought the choice Raizen had made was quite honorable. And if it had been made because he fell for a human woman, as the case may be if he were Yuusuke's ancestor, then it was also understandable. Anyone would make that choice.

"Your seal is a problem as well."

Another hum. "If I wanted the seal removed I'd get Tsuzuki to do it. It's too much of a risk until I'm sure I can deal with the fallout."

"But you chose to keep it on, to make yourself look harmless and keep the rest of us safe for the moment," Itsuki guessed, shaking his head. He seemed frustrated as well. "I don't know how you can think yourself unworthy, Koenma. After all the sacrifices you have endured, is it not enough to claim what love and happiness you can? If you're not worthy, then who among us is?"

"Shinobu," Koenma shot back immediately. That was an essential truth in his heart.

Itsuki's shoulder gently brushed against his, his eyes sad. "Thank you. And you right after him-or at least that's how I feel."

He reached out and tucked some of Itsuki's hair behind the delicate curve of his ear. The gesture had them looking at each other, sad with the familiarity.

"You always were sweet."

"As sweet as a Piranha," Itsuki responded lightly. "For what it's worth, I'll be here if you need me. I believe you have more allies than you think."

"I suppose it's always possible."

He shifted behind Itsuki on the steps and began playing with his hair, tugging it loose gently. This had been a common activity during Itsuki and Shinobu's tenure with the Reikai. Shinobu had asked Koenma, the only thing he had ever asked him for, if he absolutely had to kill Itsuki. Perhaps he should have seen the difficulties the boy was having even then, but he only granted permission. After then, Itsuki had become part of both their lives.

Slowly after that, he found the two occupying his office between missions. Shinobu would read while sneaking glances at the desk, where Koenma would stamp papers and play with Itsuki's hair.

They had been too open. It was no wonder that, eventually, Enma had noticed.

"You'll have to face Enma eventually," Itsuki murmured, leaning back into his hands.

Koenma was rarely so honest when he responded, "I know. I've thought about it every day since I was twelve. Until I'm strong enough to do so, however, I have my plans and my plots and such."

The demon laughed softly. "Hmm. In the meantime, you should talk to Yuusuke-kun about some of these things. Secrets could destroy you before you even get started."

Koenma stiffened a little. The thought of opening himself up even more to Yuusuke, to leave himself that vulnerable, was a little terrifying. Itsuki was one thing-his demon friend would never use this information to hurt him. He didn't want to believe that Yuusuke would either, but that was more trust than he was sure he wanted give to anyone.

If Yuusuke's words weren't a lie, then the outcome could be considerably worse. Any happiness that Koenma would feel would probably be immediately eclipsed as soon as Yuusuke learned more about the situation.

He gently gathered Itsuki's hair back into a ponytail high on his head, combing with his fingers. "Maybe. I just don't want him running off to try and kill anyone."

"Tie him to the bed first," was Itsuki's straightforward suggestion, and it had Koenma bursting into a rare fit of laughter.

He leaned his forehead against the nape of Itsuki's neck, basking in familiar scents and presence of his friend. The demon even used the same shampoo as he once had-a particular brand he had seen advertised on television during his and Shinobu's favorite show. Perhaps a testament to how unusual Itsuki was, he had taken to living in the human world much more eagerly than even Kurama did now.

Koenma wrapped his arms around Itsuki's shoulders, still laughing a little. He had many worries, but for now, he was just happy to be in this moment where things seemed a little more hopeful.

The moment was ruined utterly when he heard numerous crashing trees from the nearby forest. Birds screeched and cried out, fleeing in all directions, getting away from the threat. Behind it, Yuusuke's youki-reiki flared.

"I think perhaps he might have seen you draped all over me," Itsuki said mildly.

"Uh oh," Koenma sighed, pulling away hesitantly. Whatever the reason, it was obvious Yuusuke was angry.

"You two _really _need to talk."

"Probably."

Itsuki nudged him, light and playful. "No, definitely. Right now, before he destroys the temple. Start with the basics: I love you, I want to be with you, but my father is evil and might kill you so I'm scared."

He stood. Only years of doing all sorts of tasks he hadn't wanted to do kept him from pleading with Itsuki to take them somewhere, anywhere else. "Can I leave out the 'I'm scared' part?"

Itsuki's smile was indulgent. "Of course."

"Are you going back to the Makai?"

"For a time, but I'll be visiting Shinobu often."

Koenma turned back uncertainly, hesitant. "And me?"

"Of course," Itsuki promised, smiling like he thought Koenma was being silly. "But I think I should wait until your young man is more certain about where your feelings lie."

Koenma nodded shyly. "I look forward to it then."

"As do I, my friend."

With a brief flash of a portal opening, the demon was gone, and Koenma was alone again. He took a moment to settle himself before heading after his irate Tantei.

A path of broken and scorched trees led him to a lake, which the destruction had thankfully not touched. Sun reflected brightly across the water's clear surface, as it occasionally peeked through the clouds. A group of ducks, which were likely used to the ruckus that Genkai and her student often created, had not fled their lake home. They were, however, quacking very irately at the teen.

Yuusuke ignored them. He was waist deep in the water, his eyes closed and holding his arms ready. The expression on his face was remarkably peaceful, his energy simmering slowly down to a much calmer level. It was almost as if the boy had finally managed to center himself enough to meditate, which seemed laughable after what he had done to the forest. Of course, Yuusuke had done stranger things.

His hair was disheveled, part of it coming out of the braid while the rest valiantly held on, dangling down into the water, and his dark bangs framed his face. Yuusuke's clothes were wet and clinging to him, torn after his recent activity; and on the skin revealed, Koenma was able to see the Mazoku tattoos which had reappeared at the surge of power. They were already beginning to fade as he calmed down.

He was beautiful. Koenma felt mesmerized by the sight and every fiber in his body betrayed how much he wanted the teen. To hold, to care for, to keep safe.

Those large brown eyes blinked open, as if Yuusuke had sensed him. "Ko? Wha-?"

He seemed to try to take a step, but tripped, flailed, and disappeared beneath the water.

Koenma tensed, but he was too surprised to move at first, and soon enough Yuusuke resurfaced, coughing and wetter than ever, hair plastered to his face. His cheeks was bright red.

"Holy crap!"

Koenma relaxed and knelt on the lake shore. "Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah. Just made an absolute fool of myself, but other than that, I'm peachy." He glowered down at the water as he made his way to Koenma, wringing out his hair. He knew enough to start from the base and work downward, holding the ends above the waterline.

"You haven't made a fool of yourself," Koenma assured gently.

Yuusuke came to a stop beside him, his wet hair and glower making him look distinctly bedraggled. "You could have just told me you were in love with someone else."

Koenma blinked, reeling back a little and wondering how the teen had come to this bizarre conclusion. Then he remembered what Itsuki had said-that Yuusuke must have seen them together. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yuusuke. Itsuki is completely devoted to Shinobu." He did, however, offer a faint smile, made easier by the happy reunion with said demon. "I don't love Itsuki as anything other than a very dear friend."

Yuusuke's eyes grew larger behind his mop of hair, his blush renewing and endearing. "Oh geez. I'm a complete idiot."

"No, you're not," Koenma said gently. As silly as this reaction was, he felt a little giddy from it too. Yuusuke had gotten angry because he was jealous of someone he had believed Koenma to actually love. Another event he had thought would never happen. It was sweet, if misplaced.

"I got jealous and destroyed Baa-san's forest for no reason."

"I'm sure she'll forgive you."

"You mean after she throws me in a snake pit."

He couldn't help his smile from stretching wider. "It might end up being good training."

The teen groaned in response-he was still not enthusiastic about having to do actual work. Hesitantly, Koenma stroked his hands through Yuusuke's damp hair. It was a lot thicker when wet. He desperately wanted to take Yuusuke back inside, find the hair brush, and work through all the knots. Especially as Yuusuke's eyes fluttered and he leaned into the touch.

Koenma took a deep breath, knowing this needed to be done. He didn't want to risk Yuusuke, or his own heart, but this reaction had changed things. As strange as it was, it made Koenma believe him just a little more. "Itsuki suggested that I tell you some things."

"To stop being a whiny teenager?"

He shook his head. "No." Flushing, Koenma turned his gaze to the lake. " That I love you and want to be with you."

The teen shifted closer, his presence invitingly warm and he could practically feel Yuusuke's leer. "Koenma... And you didn't want to tell me yourself, because?"

"Enma is kind of crazy," Koenma told him, hesitant and soft. The lake was so pretty. Yuusuke was prettier, but he still couldn't bring himself to meet his eyes.

"How crazy?"

"Very."

"Great. Just what we need, a crazy god. _How_ is this our lives?"

Almost by mutual agreement, they sat down in front of the lake, watching the ducks swim. They had calmed down and resumed cleaning themselves and searching for bugs to eat, skimming their bills along the surface of the water.

Yuusuke settled close to him, removing the remnants of his ripped shirt and flicking a pebble across the lake. It bounced away from the ducks and they hardly noticed. "So you're worried."

"Worry doesn't begin to cover what I'm feeling, Yuusuke."

Fingers that could cause so much havoc were gentle as Yuusuke rubbed the back of Koenma's neck, sliding into his short hair. His hand was still wet. "Hey, we'll figure it out. I promise."

"I know." They would have to. Before Yuusuke decided to try and face Enma himself, dying horribly in the process.

Shyly, he reached for Yuusuke's hair, keeping his gaze on the teen's long, dark locks as he wrung out more water, from scalp to the tips. Once it was as dry as he could get it, he gently twisted the length up and back, tying a simple not.

When he finally dared to look, Yuusuke's expression was euphoric. It was the same expression he had worn after climaxing in his pants earlier. Koenma blushed brightly, remembering it vividly. It had been quick and clumsy for both of them, but it was also something remarkable too. If for no other reason than he loved Yuusuke and had known the teen cared for him, at least a little, as well.

Now he believed it a little more.

"Thanks."

"Welcome."

His Tantei grinned. "I get it now. You like long hair. I'm so not cutting it."

Koenma blushed. "Yuusuke, that's not a real reason to keep it long."

"It is. Besides, I like the attention. You like it, I like it. It's fine, Ko."

There was still so much to say, so many questions that Yuusuke was bound to still have. But for the moment, they stayed side by side in front of the lake. For the moment, they were happy and someone wasn't trying to kill them. It was another good moment.

* * *

TBC.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

* * *

When the police had come around about the explosion at the apartment, Keiko apparently made up some story about not knowing what happened, and it was officially being put down as another arson attempt. (Yuusuke was worried about being blamed for it himself at this point, but Kurama and Kuwabara had given him a pretty solid alibi.)

He did eventually return to the home he shared with his mother-for one thing, he needed an extra pair of shoes. The other sneaker was still in the cave, somewhere, after bouncing off Sensui's face. It wasn't worth going back for just an old, beat up sneaker.

Koenma's shield had mostly kept the building protected, but Yuusuke hadn't been sure of most of the damage until he saw it with his own eyes. There were still some scorch marks and cracked walls, but it wasn't too bad after things had been picked up. Some paint and fresh drywall and it would be good as new. The neighbors eyed him warily as he passed by, but that wasn't too different from usual. He didn't like people and people didn't like him.

True, the long hair was garnering a lot of attention as well. He was keeping it braided, though his own attempts were way messier than Koenma's neat plaits.

Yuusuke also expected Atsuko to be furious with him when he finally returned. While there was some anger, there was also resignation in her expression as well. She didn't yell or even scold him for missing school. Her eyes were sad as she'd greeted him with, "Still alive then?" It was messed up but he couldn't tell his mother the truth about what he was doing-and what he was now. Atsuko would never understand that there was demon blood in their family, or she would treat it as a joke.

His hair was certainly a source of humor. She accused him of having extensions done.

It was just cruel that he had to keep running out on her, to the extent that Atsuko now seemed to think it was certain he wouldn't come back one day. Sadly, it was true. Yuusuke fully realized it now more than ever-he was going to leave and not come back, likely leaving Atsuko clueless for the rest of her life about what happened to him. It wasn't because he didn't care, it wasn't because he was a jerk-he _was_ a jerk but he_ did_ care.

If he told Atsuko, then her life would be in danger. He would inevitably drag her into all the crap he hadn't meant to drag Keiko into. He couldn't do that to his mom. Not when he could still remember, vividly, how she mourned him when he died the first time.

That night, he also learned where Atsuko had been all those times he was, albeit rarely, at home. She wasn't out drinking. She had gone to some meetings, seeking actual treatment for her alcoholism, and was dating one of her ex-boyfriends. He sounded like a good guy with a decent job, and was even encouraging Atsuko to continue attending the alcoholics meetings rather than putting her down for a perceived "failure."

Atsuko tried, with painstaking casualness, to invite him out with them sometime. In her tone, Yuusuke knew she thought he would turn her down. He didn't disappoint, only giving her a vague, "Maybe," for an answer.

He was glad that she was finally moving on with her life. He loved that she wasn't drinking. But what was he going to do meeting some normal guy anyway? When he was pretty far from normal. Yuusuke thought he was likely to scare the guy off.

He wished he could talk to Koenma about it. He nearly called, but all he managed to do was pick up the cordless phone from the cradle and stare at the dial pad, Genkai's number scrawled on a rumpled post-it. He wasn't sure what to say his problem was, other than he wished that he could tell Atsuko the truth. He wished his choices, made for good reasons, didn't also hurt people.

He stayed through Sunday night and went to school on Monday, but the idea of sitting in class was just unbearable. He ended up spending most of his time on the roof, then the final bell rang and he trudged home. Kuwabara was, weirdly, the one that started nagging at him about test scores and high school entrance exams. The big lug was taking his studies seriously again, like that time when Yuusuke's spirit helped Kuwabara study for a test in his sleep. (He was still amazed that worked.) It began to feel stifling the more his friend went on about placement tests, and Yuusuke just rolled over where he rested and tuned him out.

He avoided Keiko, nor did she come find him, though she always seemed to know where he disappeared to before. There was just no trying to get that around in his mind-he still didn't have any idea what to say. He had no more doubts about who he wanted to be with, who he was tentatively starting to picture his future with. That was Koenma. He just had no idea how to tell the girl that in a way that wouldn't hurt her badly.

Yuusuke began to wonder if that was all he was capable of: hurting people.

By the next day, he knew he could not stand it any longer. It wasn't just because he was lazy, as his friends surely thought. He was indeed lazy, incredibly so, and normal society had always felt constraining. He had never wanted anything to do with it. But now there were other things to consider, like what the hell was a teenage demon supposed to do with his future anyway? What did being a demon even mean?

He no longer knew who he was, what he was, and what he was supposed to do. Koenma wasn't working for the Reikai at the moment, so he didn't feel obligated to be a Tantei anymore. It would be weird now to hunt demons for them, not that he would obey the assholes unless his Ko was in charge once more.

He wanted a future of some sort with Koenma, he just didn't know how he would provide for that future the way he was. Kurama and Hiei couldn't help him-they were demons but they hadn't gone through the same experience that he had. They were born demons. He had gone through a change he wasn't sure how to describe.

Was he evil now? Was he worthy of being Koenma's mate?

There was no way he could go to school with all this on his mind, so he ditched. He left the apartment with his bookbag, telling Atsuko he would see her later, with no intention of doing so any time soon. He caught a bus down the street and was quiet on the way to the temple. If he garnered anymore stares-because of the hair or otherwise-then he didn't notice.

Yuusuke didn't want to think that he'd end up becoming something other than what he was. It was true that he had changed much since becoming involved with the Reikai, but those changes had been for the better. As much as he complained about all of it. But part of him, even now, still remained human. It had to have, he reasoned, because he still remembered random things that demons wouldn't give a damn about-like the Captain Planet theme song.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized this was a good example. Captain Planet wasn't exactly normal and not entirely human-but he always came when those kids called for him.

Yuusuke wanted to remain like this-to never forget and never stop caring about his friends. He just wasn't sure it was possible now.

He needed to talk about these things to Genkai and Koenma. They were the only people that could possibly come close to understanding. If he could get over himself long enough to ask...

He had left Sunday night, and it was Tuesday morning. A little over a day since he last spoke to his tentative boyfriend. Yuusuke had never been a clingy person, but he realized how much he had missed Koenma. He wanted to be near him, to feel his warmth and to garner one of those smiles. Maybe even do something stupid to make Ko laugh.

He found Koenma curled up in bed-it was still early but it was strange anyway. The former god tended to wake with the sun. Yet there he was, curled up on his side, a frown marring what should have been peacefully sleeping features.

Yuusuke sat down on the side of the bed and reached out to touch Koenma's shoulder.

* * *

He wanted to whimper, but he didn't have enough breath. All he could manage was to keep his chest rising and falling, even though it hurt, every gasp for air painful, because everything hurt. All his short time as a human, in this life where he lived by a different name, he had never experienced such agony. Sweat dripped from his forehead, slipping into his eyes, but the sting was nothing compared to the rest of his body. It just made it hard to make out the blurry figures around him.

Not that there was much he wanted to see.

If he had enough energy, he would have whimpered out, "Why? Why are you doing this to me?" to the soldiers around him. He only wanted to help. Even though he had felt this coming, felt the betrayal deep to his very mortal bones, it still hurt.

He also knew it was necessary. It was destiny and no one could fight that power. This was the final stage that would cement the safety of an entire race. He knew they needed to be saved, because none of them could do this sacrifice themselves-this pain, this blood that he shed, would ensure it for them. He wanted to save them, he wasn't trying to refuse-but Spirits above, he had never expected this level of torment. Not because he didn't think they were capable of it-because they were, that was the point, that was why he was doing this-he just hadn't known what to expect. Or how the pain would actually feel.

He knew other things though. He had seen the future. Though this act would ensure their safety, it would also be misinterpreted and the real meaning of the lessons he had tried to teach would eventually be lost or confused. Wars would be started and lies would be told in his-his pseudonym, because it wasn't his name, it had never been his name. But that wasn't the point, he hadn't done any of this-coming to this dimension to live with them to this final act of selflessness-for acknowledgement.

It was to save them. Even if they never knew, or forgot, or tried to kill themselves in the name of some religion he would never support.

The knowledge that this is what would happen, though, had made him as heartsick as knowing that one of his friends would betray him.

His chin lolled against his chest and he had no strength to lift it again, despite the added strain it put on his already labored breathing. Rough wood dug into his burning flesh, splinters cutting into him skin easily, an annoyance he couldn't put out of his mind even with all the other pain. His lungs spasmed, shaking his thin frame with forceful coughs as they struggled to eject blood and fluid, unable to make room for precious air.

A weak moan escaped his lips. "Stop!" he wanted to scream at his vulnerable, wrecked, and human shell. "Just give up! Just die already and then the pain will be over and I can go home!"

He wanted to go home. Even if there was nothing there, and those he had once called family had grown to hate him, he still wanted to go back. He wanted this to be over, to find some quiet place in the Reikai to curl up and hide. Then he would sleep for as long as he was allowed. Even if that quiet place would be a prison, he would prefer it to this.

Tears ran unnoticed down his cheeks, mixing with the sweat already stinging his eyes. He'd lost count of how long he had hung there as his form refused, again and again, to give in. He blacked out a few times, but the blissful relief did not last long, as he always woke up strapped where he was. He was hopeful every time that he would finally wake up in the Reikai or floating above his body, waiting for a ferry girl to come collect his soul.

He wished again that humans were not built so resilient. With nothing he could do to ease his torment, he wept.

A voice spoke, gentleness and familiarity a balm over the pain.

"Ko. Hey, Koenma."

But none of them knew that was his name. Koenma tried to look in the direction of that voice, to find who was calling him. Was it a ferry girl? Was it time to finally leave his human life behind?

Someone touched his shoulder. The touch wasn't painful. "C'mon, Ko. You're dreaming. Come back to me, babe."

A dream. It was just a dream. Koenma struggled against the grip of it and woke with a gasp, gazing up into Yuusuke's beautiful brown eyes. He sat up sharply and, too late, realized those eyes were far too close to his own.

Their foreheads slammed together.

"Ack!" Yuusuke moved back quickly, smiling and holding his head. "Hey, I thought I was the one that did the head-butting. Sorry, babe."

"Ow." Koenma rubbed his own head. "S'okay." He brushed tears from his eyes absently, not really caring if Yuusuke decided to turn back to his old self and tease him.

That was not what happened, of course. The hand on his shoulder squeezed gently. "It's okay, Ko. Just a bad dream. Bad dreams can't hurt you. Even if it was really, super horrible and then there was head-butting."

Koenma rolled his eyes bitterly. If Yuusuke only knew-but of course, he could never tell him the truth. Not only did he not know where to begin, he had never told anyone. He didn't even talk about it to those who did know. How was he supposed to talk about it with Yuusuke?

The teen was going through his own problems anyway.

Yuusuke's hand on his shoulder switched to his hair, massaging his scalp and causing his muscles to relax against his will.

"Ko, when I touched you... something weird happened."

"Huh?" He turned his gaze back to Yuusuke, who seemed hesitant and sad. Both of which were unusual for the teen.

"I don't know if I can explain it, but I'm pretty sure it came from you... There was terrible pain, everything hurt. Way worse than what I felt when Sensui-when he killed me. You were strapped to something, I think."

Koenma frowned, brow furrowing. He had been nailed to something, but Yuusuke being able to sense his dream-his memory-was unusual.

The teen's brow was furrowed with sincere worry. "Ko, what were you dreaming about?"

"The past," Koenma answered honestly.

The hand in his hair kept petting. It felt so nice and he leaned into the touch, closing his eyes. The pain from the dream felt very far away now, eased by Yuusuke's touch.

"Sorry," his Tantei spoke softly. "If you ever wanna talk about it..."

Koenma glanced at him again, but he looked too confused to have guessed what the dream was about. It was a little hard to believe that someone in this day and age, especially someone as culturally aware as Yuusuke could be, couldn't have guessed the truth himself. But the teen honestly seemed to have no idea. Yuusuke's emotions always shown so clearly in his eyes.

Koenma shook his head. "It was a long time ago." He couldn't even talk to Tatsumi about it, and Yuusuke was just as dear to him, if in a different way.

Tatsumi was the closest thing he ever had to a true father, while Yuusuke was the only love to ever remotely return his feelings. Who had kissed him and-other things-and for a time gave him something else to feel other than loneliness and the fear of his unrelenting father.

There was no way he could, no part of him that really wanted to. In fact, given Yuusuke's temper, he would be better off not knowing how Enma had used his only son in order to gain power in the Reikai once again, after that disastrous war in the Makai.

"Okay," Yuusuke said, shoulders slumping.

Koenma inched a little closer, shy and uncertain. He didn't know how receptive Yuusuke would be to their closeness, not after spending a whole day around his girlfriend again. He was certain that seeing Keiko would have reaffirmed their feelings and Yuusuke would conclude that he'd made a huge mistake.

Yuusuke smiled shyly and leaned into him, their shoulders touching. The closeness and security that had been building between them renewed in seconds and Koenma sighed in relief.

It seemed Yuusuke wouldn't be going back to Keiko. At least not yet. She was his true soulmate, there was no way he could fight against that kind of bond. Even if Yuusuke had seen his memories of that fateful, horrible time so long ago, and it had probably been because of the bond, it didn't necessarily mean anything.

The teen nuzzled close, his nose brushing Koenma's cheek tenderly. "It's alright. Maybe one day you'll feel different. If you do, I'll be here."

Koenma swallowed thickly. He couldn't see that happening, not ever, but he nodded anyway and said, "Okay."

It was hard to believe, but Yuusuke made him feel very far from the person he had been almost two thousand years ago.

He relaxed slowly as the teen's hands slipped behind him, rubbing at the knots of tension in his back. Yuusuke stayed close, breathing softly against his cheek or neck as he alternated where he nuzzled, and soon Koenma's head started to feel it was stuffed with cotton-in a surprisingly pleasant way.

"Anyone ever give you a massage before?" Yuusuke asked softly, lips moving against the shell of his ear.

Koenma shivered a little and absently shook his head. As much as Yuusuke professed not to have any experience, there was something about his actions that seemed preternaturally sensual. Perhaps this was just another of the teen's blessings-he was inherently good at driving Koenma nuts.

He could hear the smile in Yuusuke's voice. "Want me to?"

Koenma blushed at the boldness. The straightforwardness was nothing new. "Yuusuke, are you trying to seduce me?"

Yuusuke pulled back a little, enough so that Koenma could see his sheepish expression. "Maybe. Is it working?"

The former god laughed softly. "You're horrible."

"Love me anyway?" the teen pressed softly, looking up through dark, shaggy fringe.

Koenma noticed for the first time that Yuusuke must have tried to braid his hair himself, and it was awful. It was coming loose and had been tied in place with a rubber band, which was going to get horribly tangled in his hair. He would have to fix it, and possibly trim the split ends.

He blushed and felt himself be drawn to honesty again. "Yes," he answered, even more softly.

Yuusuke beamed and pressed a light kiss against the corner of his mouth, which Koenma didn't even have time to return.

"So. Want me to?"

Koenma hesitated some more. He wasn't quite sure what Yuusuke had in mind, if he had anything at all in mind, nor if either of them were really ready for such a step. He had just begun to feel as if he could-maybe-give himself over to such an act, but he wasn't entirely sure he would be able to perform when he still held himself back. He had some doubts about what future they could possibly have-if not about Yuusuke's feelings changing eventually.

They had already touched a little, but Koenma hadn't really been thinking too much either at the time. He'd just been happy that Yuusuke was there with him. Still alive, healed and recklessly beautiful.

The teen spoked up again, adding: "It's okay. I just wanna make you feel good. Won't do anything else unless you want me to. You've just got to lie on your stomach."

He looked into Yuusuke's eyes again, saw the teen's own hesitation and Koenma relaxed again. He would take his Tantei's words at face value-and if something happened, he would decide then what he would do.

Nodding, Koenma lied down on his stomach. Under Yuusuke's ministrations, and then when more inevitably happened, he let himself forget his worries for awhile.

Afterwards, he felt so content that he hardly wanted to move at all, and he basked in Yuusuke's presence which seemed so much stronger. The two of them felt so close now, not just physically, but their prince-tantei bond as well. He enjoyed the feeling of Yuusuke's tanned skin and tracing the scars that marred his compact frame. Yuusuke would never be bulky, he wasn't tall enough and a martial artist did not really want to do that to their bodies. Toguro's exaggerated frame should have been their first hint that all was not what it seemed with him.

Yuusuke's hair had also come completely loose and it was everywhere around them on the bed. When he could move his arms again, Koenma started to brush it out and away with his fingers, trying to get the thick locks back in order. It didn't really feel like human hair anymore, but like animal fur. Koenma found he loved it just for being part of his teen.

"Love you," he whispered into Yuusuke's fringe, which mostly covered those large brown eyes.

It had been a long time coming, and as much as he feared how it would hurt later, it also felt good to finally say it. Especially as Yuusuke's smile stretched wide.

"Ko..."

He flushed and shifted, sliding his gaze away from those eyes that occasionally saw way too much. Yuusuke wasn't the brightest demon ever, but he had moments of brilliance.

"Hey." Those strong arms were tugging him close, and those surprisingly soft lips were kissing everywhere they could reach. Koenma felt it was a little easier to breathe.

Yuusuke continued to smile brightly. "You're beautiful and wonderful and I love you too. Sorry, you just surprised me."

Koenma could accuse the brat of the exact same thing. He held in a squeak of embarrassment at the compliments and hid his face against Yuusuke's chest. After a few breathes and listening to the teen's slow heartbeat, he felt his body begin to relax, Yuusuke's hand rubbing his back in slow circles.

"Definitely glad I skipped school today," Yuusuke murmured above him.

"Keiko will be mad," Koenma pointed out softly.

Yuusuke didn't even tense up at the mention of his girlfriend. He continued to sound sleepy and content. "Mm, she's always mad about that. But I had a good reason this time. Not that she and Kuwabara will buy it..."

"Yeah?"

Yuusuke sighed heavily. "I'm just starting to wonder if I really belong here at all."

Koenma rubbed Yuusuke's waist, able to hear the doubt and sadness in his tone. He'd thought the teen might struggle with some of his recent changes-he had gone through so much and now he was part of something new. "Do you regret coming back?"

"No." Another smile, and a kiss pressed against his forehead, which tingled from a minor power exchange. "Because you're here."

He winced into Yuusuke's chest. It would have almost been better of Yuusuke had stayed in the Makai-especially as Enma was sure to make another attempt on Yuusuke's life. He had already explained this to the teen, and naturally he had chosen to remain confident in the face of the real threat. That was just how Yuusuke was.

But if Yuusuke stayed in this world because of him, it could very well get his love killed for real this time-and Koenma didn't know how he would survive that happening again.

"Feel like I'm crying at the moon, yanno?" Yuusuke said around a yawn. "If I was in the Makai, I'd miss all of you. But being here, I just think about all the secrets about myself that are waiting for me to uncover in the demon world."

Koenma nuzzled against Yuusuke's chest sleepily. "Talk to Genkai later."

"Oh yeah, she'll love that. She'll just say she's not my damn shrink."

"She loves you."

"Hm, yeah, I finally started to grow on her. Like fungus."

The former god smiled tiredly. "You just called yourself fungus, silly. Go to sleep."

"Mm, yeah. Nap time. Then I should check on Puu. Then maybe talk to Grandma. Was thinking about it anyway."

"Okay."

He settled down against Yuusuke, safe in those strong, protective arms. There were no more nightmares, not that day.

Koenma was glad that Yuusuke had skipped classes as well.

* * *

Puu kept reverting back to his smaller form, seemingly at will. Without warning, the Phoenix would start glowing as it gathered energy, concentration on his tiny beaked face, then there would be a very large bird filling the tight spaces of Genkai's home. Then they would turn around and Puu would be a tiny chick once more. Seeing this firsthand a few times, Yuusuke eventually laughed and proclaimed, "He's just practising. Let him, it's his first talent."

Puu was offended and picked at his master's hand, as if to argue that he had lots of natural talents and Yuusuke just never took notice. Then the teen would pet his blue feathers and all was be well again.

Koenma continued to marvel at the change in the relationship between boy and spirit beast. In the beginning, Yuusuke and Puu had both seemed easily irritated by one another. Since their rebirth, they were truly bonded together. He supposed the transition would have been easier if Yuusuke ever owned a pet, which he hadn't.

He sat on the porch with them later that same evening of Yuusuke's return from town, watching as the teen tried to feed the spirit beast some bird seed from Yukina's stores. Puu was not wanting any part of it, turning his tiny face away from Yuusuke's outstretched hand.

"C'mon, Puu," the teen pleaded in frustration. "You need to eat."

Puu made a disgruntled noise, flapping his small wings in annoyance.

Something told Koenma that the common bird seed just wasn't going to cut it, but he said nothing for now. He just wanted to watch them, as neither had really noticed him joining them yet. Upon getting dressed, he had decided randomly to don one of Yuusuke's old t-shirts over his pajamas, which were far too baggy-purchased out of a bargain bin, so there hadn't been much choice for sizes. Koenma was not sure how Yuusuke would feel about him wearing the shirt, though, so he let the bird keep the teen occupied.

Puu took off into the air, making Yuusuke give chase, and Koenma watched them circle around him a few times before the Phoenix came to a rest in the safety of the former god's lap.

Yuusuke pouted, hands on his hips. There was bird seed everywhere. "C'mon, Puu."

"Puu!" the bird almost scolded.

The teen sighed and reached for a broom sitting nearby, almost as though it had been left by some insightful soul who knew Yuusuke would be making a mess today. "Well, I guess he really doesn't like the bird seed."

Koenma brushed his fingertips against the soft black feathers on Puu's head, getting the bird's attention. "Puu."

The bird nuzzled against him, and Koenma melted, taking the little bird into his arms and holding him like a baby. "You really do need to eat, Puu."

"Puu?"

Koenma gently stroked his soft belly feathers as he glanced over to see what else Yuusuke had brought to feed him. "Do you want some sunflower seeds?"

"Puu!" the tiny phoenix chirped happily.

Koenma smiled. Likely Puu had known his preference the whole time and was just teasing his master. "Alright then."

He fed Puu some of the black seeds, which had the bird squirming happily in Koenma's arms, while Yuusuke cleaned the floor and grumbled lowly under his breath. He swept the birdseed into the grass, where some wild birds came to greedily eat them up. Puu paid them no mind, almost basking in Koenma's attentions.

Back when he had more doubts about Yuusuke's feelings, Puu's fondness of him had seemed strange, but he found some small comfort in the closeness. Now it made perfect sense, but it made him no less fond of the spirit beast. He loved Puu very much, because he was sweet and an extension of Yuusuke.

Yuusuke sighed heavily as he sat the broom aside, glaring down at the phoenix. "Stupid boyfriend stealing bird."

Koenma focused entirely on Yuusuke again, startled. He called the boy's name twice before Yuusuke looked at him in return, the glare softening somewhat into another strangely adorable pout.

"Are you jealous? Of Puu?"

Yuusuke flushed brightly and looked away instead of answering vocally.

He didn't need to and Koenma couldn't help but giggle a little. The idea of Yuusuke being jealous of a bird-it was just so silly!

Then the teen growled. "Well, I'm so glad that someone finds me amusing."

A chill settled in Koenma's chest, and his breath quickened, the laughter dying in his throat and replaced by growing panic. He shouldn't have laughed, he shouldn't have let down his guard. Now he had displeased Yuusuke, just as he always seemed to displease his father, and he began to apologize quickly-

"Crap, Ko." Yuusuke was crouched down in front of him as his voice broke through Koenma's rushing thoughts. The glare was gone, as gentle fingers brushed under Koenma's chin, making him meet Yuusuke's gaze. The teen looked intensely guilty. "I'm just irritated, not mad, and not with you."

"Oh?" Koenma managed to ask, his throat still tight.

"Yeah, babe." Yuusuke kissed him lightly, thumb lightly stroking his chin, just under his mouth. "I'm the one that's sorry. You're right, I was jealous of Puu." The admission had the teen blushing again.

"Why?" Koenma asked softly, uncertain, his human heart still beating too fast.

The teen shrugged awkwardly. "Because he looked so darn smug being in your arms and having all your attention. He planned that whole setup somehow just for your attention."

Koenma absently petted Puu some more, and the bird nuzzled his hand, but he kept his eyes on Yuusuke's embarrassed and honest features. Slowly, the panic subsided, and Koenma felt silly for panicking like that and making Yuusuke worry. After all, Yuusuke could not be more different than his father. He wasn't sure why he reacted that way.

"Do you want me to hold you and feed you sunflower seeds?" he asked gently, teasing.

Yuusuke grinned shyly. "Okay."

He held open his arms immediately in invitation, which Yuusuke accepted by slipping close, snuggling. The boy took Puu into his lap instead, where the bird chirped in mild disgruntlement before settling down against Yuusuke's worn jeans.

Koenma smiled and pressed a kiss against Yuusuke's hair, which was neatly braided once more, getting a noise close to a purr from the recently reborn demon.

Yuusuke shared the sunflower seeds with his spirit beast, which Koenma also approved of. There was no reason for them to fight over him; as silly as it seemed, that was what had just occurred.

"Sorry, Ko," Yuusuke said again, muffled into the former god's shoulder. "It seems stupid to be jealous of Puu, who's practically me, but I guess I was. Weird. It was like when I was jealous of Itsuki. And Sensui."

Koenma blushed. He hadn't told Yuusuke much at all about his feelings for his previous Tantei, but his reaction was probably enough to give himself away.

"I don't know, Ko. I'm starting to worry it's because of how I came back." Yuusuke's voice was softer and the teen pressed closer in his arms. "I need to be near you, and I get mad if other people got your attention."

Blinking, Koenma stroked Yuusuke's cheek. "Why? You don't need to be. You're the only one..." He trailed off, too embarrassed and uncertain to continue. This wasn't about him, it was about Yuusuke.

Yuusuke lifted his head, offering a wolfish smile. "I love you so much, Ko."

The former god's heart clenched and rose simultaneously, with happiness. He really believed Yuusuke meant it, and no matter how selfish, no matter if Yuusuke truly belonged with Keiko and not Koenma, he wanted the teen to keep saying it. Forever.

"I love you too, Yuu," he murmured softly, a giggle bubbling up again as Yuusuke dropped more kisses on his mouth and neck. He brushed the teen's thick bangs from his eyes. "So you don't need to be jealous."

Yuusuke nodded sheepishly. "I know that, logically. And I know you are gonna love other people. Friends, family, that aren't me. And that's fine. Not sure why I'm even bothered this much."

Well, it had only been of Puu, but it was true that it kept happening. Koenma thought that Yuusuke had been getting jealous even before his rebirth, but it was possible that had caused some sort of catalyst. He said, "It might be some sort of side effect of the Mazoku."

The teen sighed heavily. "Great. More."

"It's no different than me learning to be human," Koenma pointed out reasonably, leaving out the fact that it wasn't his first time. It wasn't even his second time.

Yuusuke rewarded him with a fond, lopsided smile. "I guess not."

"You'll get used to it."

"Mm."

A soft cheek nuzzled against his own. Yuusuke wasn't even shaving yet, Koenma thought absently-but of course, demons grew in body hair differently. He doubted that Yuusuke would ever need to shave very much in the future. Koenma wouldn't be particularly bothered by this, though. The teen had plenty of hair now as it was, since he refused to cut his long length. (Admittedly, Koenma did love to play with it.)

"What else have you gotten used to?" Yuusuke asked softly. "You never told me much about it before. Well, I was kinda being a jerk when I asked before..."

"You were fine," Koenma assured, cuddling lightly as Yuusuke tucked close again. "It's just a lot of little things."

"Like?"

Koenma sighed. He was starting to wonder about Yuusuke's ability to make him admit things he'd rather not. "Like being with you."

"Huh? How? Did you not want to be with me before?"

He blushed. "I did. Desire is very different from willingness and ability."

He could hear Yuusuke's confusion in his muffled voice, the part-demon's face pressed into his neck. "Willingness and ability? What do you mean?"

Koenma shook his head. "It's not easy to explain." He considered his words carefully as Yuusuke waited patiently for him to continue. "How much do you know about demons?"

"Just what Hiei and Kurama tell me, and I think some of what Hiei said he made up so he can laugh at my expense... Why do you ask?"

Koenma nodded. That did sound like something Hiei would do, so he didn't blame Yuusuke for the assumption. "A comparison would make it easier to explain. In humans, your body, mind, and emotions are more separate from each other. For demons and gods, it's different-the three sensations are more in tune with one another. You've experienced it yourself. The knowledge that you must be stronger can make you stronger. At least temporarily."

"Huh, true." At least the teen was actually listening to his explanations. It made Koenma wonder that if they'd been lovers from the beginning, he could have gotten Yuusuke to listen to him better. "So for you guys, sexual feelings are like that?"

"They can be. Thoughts and feelings and will can affect your body if they're strong enough."

Yuusuke nodded against his shoulder, thoughtful. "Okay. So, you wouldn't have done anything with me if you didn't feel anything for me? Basically?"

Koenma nodded, blushing. "Some demons see sex as the ultimate form of control and so they can only be aroused when they feel the need to dominate someone. Some see sex as shameful and so are never aroused at all."

"And some gods are like that?"

Koenma nodded, not meeting Yuusuke's eyes as the boy lifted his head again. He continued in a softer voice. "I see sex as the ultimate expression of love and so I can't be aroused unless I'm truly in love with someone..."

His eyes darted up quick when the boy said nothing at first, and he blushed when he was greeting with a slow smile on Yuusuke's face. Koenma was embarrassed, but also grateful that his Tantei seemed to understand what he was getting at finally.

"I was trying to keep my feelings from growing further," Koenma found himself also admitting, and winced. That was much more than he wanted to say. "You made it very difficult," he added, remembering the frustration he felt when he hadn't understood Yuusuke's flirting.

Yuusuke's hand, strong and firm, curled around his neck and rubbed gently. "Because you thought I was in love with Keiko?"

Koenma hesitated. "Partly."

Yuusuke's hand continued rubbing his skin and Koenma felt himself melting against the long haired teen completely. Very few people had ever been able to help him relax like this-he could have loved Yuusuke for that alone.

"And Daddy dearest."

Koenma sighed sadly and nodded.

A thumb rubbed soothingly against his cheek. "You're still worried though, so something else has changed."

The former god felt his face grow warm. "I became human."

"Yeah, I noticed that." Yuusuke grinned briefly. "You became human... meaning that you're not restricted to only having sex with someone because you're totally in love with them?"

Koenma nodded.

"Oh." The teen's shoulders drooped. "So you're not totally in love with me."

Koenma blinked and rubbed Yuusuke's back gently, feeling tense muscles unknot. "I didn't say that, silly. It was interesting to feel things without them affecting me. To be able to do things without risking tearing myself apart. But my core self hasn't changed, and I loved you before, if you were listening to what I was saying."

"Sorry, Ko." Yuusuke pressed their cheeks together again.

"And your core self hasn't changed, either," Koenma added. "You're still yourself, Yuusuke. You're still the person I love. You're too irritating for me to believe otherwise."

Yuusuke snorted in amusement. "Thanks, Ko. No, really-thanks. Don't let my weird demon possessiveness or recklessness or stupidity chase you away."

Koenma shook his head, touching the soft hair behind Yuusuke's ear, tugging gently on the lock. "I won't leave until you want me to."

"So that's basically never. Cool."

The former god sighed and focused on the moment-of Yuusuke's arms around him and on Puu cooing in the boy's lap. He was still worried, but right there and now, Keiko and Enma could not hurt them.

* * *

TBC. I promise, we are not bastardizing Keiko-and the soul mates thing will be clarified soon.


End file.
